The Endless Roadtrip

The Ides of March (George Clooney, 2011) - 87

2012-02-14T21:43:00.000-05:00

This bucks a rule of mine, which is:

Stageplay Rule: If a movie is based on a stage play it is generally worth avoiding.

Are there films that are based on a play and still manage to be good? Of course. But a very large percentage of play-based films are bad - uncinematically staged, unimaginatively directed, with overprojected performances.

Ides is also a political film, which is usually a red flag for me. But it's got Ryan Gosling, who had something of an MVP season this year. As I mentioned recently, all three of his 2011 films made my list of favorites. It's also my favorite film that George Clooney has directed thus far. Actually, there aren't many other films that came out this year that are as stylishly directed. Apparently George isn't happy with being one of most popular/best actors in the world; he has to be a great director, too.

And did I mention that he has a screenwriting credit on this as well? (All of the films (2) he was involved with this year currently sit in my top five favorite films of the year.)

Ides is a fast-moving piece of cynicism that hammers home a point that I think we all know: the world of politics is a world no one wants to live in. It can also be read as a critique against the compromises of the Obama administration, but it's much, much more than that. It's a riveting suspense film that I found more exciting than something like Mission:Impossible Ghost Protocol.

Evan Rachel Wood and Philip Seymour Hoffman also turn in very good performances in a film that has been largely dismissed for the likes of War Horse and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It probably just hits too darn close to home for Hollywood. If the film was about a Republican candidate I'm guessing it would be up for a best picture Oscar (but who cares about that anyway?).

Looking at 2011

2012-02-09T23:38:00.004-05:00

This is the time of heaviest 2011 movie watching for me. The time after the publication of most of the critic top ten lists when I finally get a chance to see things. Up until recently I'd been a little surprised by how much I'd liked various critical darlings, especially The Help, as well as things like Sucker Punch, which seemed like it would be awful and hasn't been embraced by anyone else that I've read without some qualification.

The Oscars are something I'd prefer not to talk about, and I tend to abstain from writing about them until the nominations are released, mostly because I'm tired of them overshadowing the rest of the year. With three straight years of mediocre best picture winners (Slumdog Millionaire, The Hurt Locker, and The King's Speech) the Academy seems primed to continue that streak by awarding The Artist the big prize this year. You know they had to do this after an unprecedented grouping of best picture winners that were actually very good (Million Dollar Baby, The Departed, and No Country For Old Men). A lot of this very closely mirrors presidential elections: you almost always end up with a candidate who isn't very risky or interesting but generally has some star quality and doesn't make anyone feel dumb.

The fun thing about wading through a year's worth of movies is discovering all of the underrated gems out there. It even makes slogging through the disappointments worthwhile. So, by way of summary, here are some of my recent surprises and disappointments.

(Because I don't have the energy to create screenshots from everything, I'm just going to use good stuff from Drive.)

Disappointments

The Artist - 56
I'm probably swayed by the hype a little bit, because a number of these films would probably be rated lower if not for the weight of acclaim on their shoulders. The Artist is a broad play on the silent era that seems to have been created for people who have never seen a silent film. Michel Hazanavicius is a director who's previous work (the OSS 117 spy spoofs) haven't held my attention and who probably has the honor of winning a directing award against a field of Woody Allen, Alexander Payne, Terrence Malick, and Martin Scorsese (possibly the best field of directing nominees since 1975) and then most likely failing to create anything of much interest again.

Hugo - 78
Unfortunately, Scorsese is hobbled by a weak script, something I just couldn't get over despite Hugo's excellence in most every other realm. Robert Richardson's cinematography is fantastic, but there are too many hokey moments and entreaties to believe in one's self to swallow, even with the many concessions I'm happy to make because of Scorsese's ample talent.

A Separation - 74
Some critics would have you believe that in twenty years time when people look back on 2011 this film will stand head and shoulders above the rest. I think if it were an American indie instead of an Iranian one it would be garnering mild praise. It's a somewhat interesting tale of domestic intrigue and coincidence and it's well-made in a very utilitarian way, and well-acted, but that's about all.

We Need To Talk About Kevin - 65
This is all about atmospherics - a great score by Jonny Greenwood, some nice repetitive use of the color red - and its two feature performances by Tilda Swinton and Ezra Miller, but its story is a dead end, a Columbinesque monster tale which ends up just being dreary, ridiculous, and sadly, sort of pointlessly silly. I mean, maybe I'm alone in this, but the idea of a school shooting spree with a bow and arrow seems like a bit of joke. I must be alone on that because no one involved with the film saw it as anything but serious.

Take Shelter - 59
I really want to like Jeff Nichols. He's from Arkansas and works with Michael Shannon. But this film meanders its way to nowhere. My score was probably too kind. The premise seemed questionable before I saw it, its good notices had me optimistic, but ultimately Michael Shannon spends a two hours going stoically and mildly insane with a few, brief hallucinations.

War Horse - 41
This is Spielberg's first paint-by-numbers movie (formulaic melodrama) since Always, and it might be my least favorite film he's made, which is saying a lot considering he also was behind Eric Bana's sex scene / Munich massacre scene in Munich. I mean, the guy's a fantastic director, and I'll always love him, but whenever he really goes for heartwarming or important I try to watch out.

Surprises

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - 80
After hearing how this was "just" a procedural we'd all seen before in its Swedish incarnation starring Noomi Rapace (which I'd seen), I wasn't sure what to think about this film. And it took me until I had started to skim along through its rape scene(s?) to really grab hold of me. One thing is for certain, Rooney Mara's Lisbeth Salander is an amazing creation, and I found her to be more sympathetic and layered in this version. Also, aside from the aforementioned sequence, its violence is surprisingly restrained. Tattoo also spits out great details right and left and continues on for at least half an hour after its "climax" and the solving of its central mystery. It's a film I really look forward to revisiting, which is something I doubted I'd ever say.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - 87
I thought this might be boring. Or so I'd been led to believe. But it's probably the most riveting movie of the year, despite the fact that its main character (Gary Oldman) makes a point of conserving as much facial energy as possible throughout. It's a great, sharp, spy movie that makes you work hard to keep track of everything. Man, it's good.

Happy Feet 2 - 79
Animal Logic is on a very impressive roll that they aren't getting much credit for. The Happy Feet films and Legend of the Guardians (the visionary Zack Snyder film) are both unlike any other talking animal films in existence. Happy Feet 2 is just as weird as its predecessor. Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are very thinly disguised as krill, but great.

Drive - 81
I wasn't totally crazy about Drive on my first pass, but it grew on me a lot by the second time around. Ryan Gosling was in three movies this year and all three made my list of favorites. Bryan Cranston takes a small role and makes it really rich. A more transparent title for Drive could be Wordless Longing. I like that Winding Refn said it was about the purity of his love for his wife.

The Guard - 82
My favorite Brendan Gleeson performance. I didn't really expect this to have some of the quickest, wittiest dialogue of the year. I had to rewind parts a few times to pick up things I missed. And it wasn't because I was having trouble with the Irish accents.

50/50 - 84
Why doesn't anyone have anything to say about Anna Kendrick in this? She puts this over the top. This is also the second of two good villain roles this year for Bryce Dallas Howard and maybe my favorite Seth Rogen role yet.

The Help (Tate Taylor) - 79

2012-01-22T00:41:00.000-05:00

Things I didn't expect The Help to be about:

- soulful meditations on the beauty of fried chicken

- denigration of Mexican shoes

- the beauty of Crisco

- wigs

- Ole Miss girls

- Guiding Light

- Bridge Club

- bald Allison Janney

- oysters

lines like:

- "Love and hate are two horns on the same goat. And you need a goat."

Things I knew it would be about:

- big hair

- a girl named Skeeter

- outrageous fluctuating Southuhn accents

- social injustice

- a flamboyant Bryce Dallas Howard performance (This was a villainous year for her. She plays the bad guy in 50/50 as well.)

Things I didn't expect it to have:

- soulful performances by Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. Davis in particular is absolutely electric. Her restraint is extremely powerful.

End of Year Music #11 & #12

2011-12-31T22:35:00.003-05:00

Destroyer - "Suicide Demo for Kara Walker"

Destroyer - "Bay of Pigs"

I'd be remiss not to include a track from my favorite album of the year, Kaputt. I always thought of Dan Bejar as the odd duck of The New Pornographers, the guy they brought in for the occasional pop curveball as a change of pace to A.C. Newman and Neko Case's fastballs. It wasn't until I checked out his work with Destroyer that I realized how talented he was. He reminds me alot of David Bowie, which if anyone knows me well is high praise coming from me. His albums have evolved from something resembling folk to his new one which sounds like soft rock jazz-lite, an absolutely horrible description for such a great album. Anyway, I flip back and forth between "Bay of Pigs" and "Suicide Demo for Kara Walker" so I included both. Happy New Year!

End of Year Music #10

2011-12-29T20:14:00.002-05:00

Cut Copy - "Need You Now"

I wasn't as big a fan of this album as I was of In Ghost Colours, but this song is irresistable.

End of Year Music #9

2011-12-26T11:24:00.003-05:00

Braids - "Lemonade"

Yet another example of precocious Canadian teens/early twenty somethings making great music. There must be something in the water in Montreal.

New Films That I Wasn't Crazy About

2011-12-23T16:01:00.000-05:00

I've been dutifully catching up with 2011 movies as we get inundated with big releases around Christmas. The biggest pleasant surprises so far I've already written about. I don't really enjoy talking much about movies I don't like, but I thought it might be good to mention them for the theoretically unlikely person who might be factoring my opinion into their own end-of-the-year viewing.

Beginners (Mike Mills, 2011) - 54
The Future (Miranda July, 2011) - 62
These guys are married and they both are very talented, have great ideas, etc., but I'm not crazy about either of their recent films. Miranda's got more of a deep left-field perspective, but I found her film largely cold and philosophical. If a character has a favorite t-shirt that follows them around town and then they put it on upside-down and do a weird dance I only really get into it if I feel connected at all to the character.

Cowboys & Aliens (Jon Favreau, 2011) - 62
Jon Favreau's dive in directorial quality hasn't rivaled David Gordon Green's, who has in essence brutally murdered everything that made him a wonderful filmmaker, but he has taken something of a long walk off of this short period of his career. While he used to make gold out of the unpromising ore given to him, he now makes tarnished bronze out of the silver that he gets. Here's hoping it's only temporary.

Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011) - 56
This is the art house equivalent of New Year's Eve (2011) or Valentine's Day (2010). One of the most memorable elements of the film might be that we get to see Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet (mild spoiler, sorry) die, and in the case of the former have their scalp peeled back. It's well made, but if you've seen the trailer you can imagine just about everything that happens. People get sick, millions die, the rest get cured.

Bellflower (Evan Glodell, 2011) - 18
I don't understand any of the mild accolades this film is receiving as the year winds down. It is very, very bad. Poorly acted, made, incoherent, misogynistic. It gets 18 points for occasional flamethrowers.

The Masterpiece I Sort Of Expected

2011-12-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

I anticipated that The Descendants would be good back when it was revealed that Alexander Payne had taken it over, but I was a little wary of the fact that he was taking on a script that he hadn't composed entirely on his own. And the reviews I read seemed to bear out that the movie featured Payne in less than full voice. It was good, but good in a different way than Election or Sideways.

Interestingly, it turns out that The Descendants is right up there with my favorite Payne film (Citizen Ruth actually, although I like all of them) and while it features a different, less acerbic voice, it's just as strong, if not stronger than in his previous work.

The film starts off a little rocky with a couple of very poor cameo performances by what I can only assume are by local, non-actors, and a voiceover that sounds a touch less than authentic from Clooney, but it builds to something with a lot of force behind it at the end. And because of the power it's accumulated it manages to go a lot of places with admirable subtlety that is anything but minimalistic. Little moments for different characters in the film's second half speak volumes.

I hesitate to recap the plot, but, suffice it to say, even if you know the larger machinations of the story, the way in which information is revealed at different points will probably still be enjoyable. As will the long lingering takes of the facial reactions of a variety of very good actors, including Robert Forster and Judy Greer, in memorable supporting roles.

This is getting a lot of awards and top 10 mention for a good reason. It's unconventionally good, which is much better than the conventional good I was expecting to get. And thus far (at least until I see The Tree of Life again) it's my favorite of the year.

The Descendants (Alexander Payne, 2011) - 91

End of Year Music #8

2011-12-22T21:57:00.002-05:00

Girls - "Vomit"

My friend Tyler thinks this song sounds a lot like Dark Side of the Moon era Pink Floyd near the end of the track. I tend to agree with him. It's amazing how well Girls can mimic almost any genre of classic rock they wish. Here, it's a 7 minute epic blues number but they're equally adept at 3 minute surf-rock.

End Of Year Music #7

2011-12-21T20:54:00.004-05:00

Shabazz Palaces - "Swerve... The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)"

If the internet hype machine were a bit more impartial with the way they dole out praise, these guys would have millions of followers and Tyler, the Creator would live in obscurity. Sadly, that's not the case.

The Masterpiece I Didn't See Coming

2011-12-16T23:59:00.001-05:00

I thought it might be a good idea to check out Warrior (2011) since Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott both had it on their lists of favorite films from the year. What I didn't expect after two very late night viewings of each half of it where I haven't been able to pull myself away to go to bed was that it would be a masterpiece.

It's an amazing, bombastic, wonderfully emotionally manipulative (The good kind of manipulation, where it's done so well that you invite the manipulation. I'm talking Top Gun and Jerry Maguire level manipulation here. The kind they usually have to employ Tom Cruise's services to pull off.), perfectly frenetically edited, underdog sports movie. The premise is way over the top (two underdog brothers end up fighting each other for an MMA championship) but somehow it more than earns going there. Tom Hardy (Brit) and Joe Edgerton (Aussie) even make more than believable estranged brothers from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. It's like this incredible balancing act that makes you pinch yourself. Wait? Why is almost no one talking about this movie again?

It also earns its use of The National as its opening and closing act, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and Moby Dick.

Right now it's got three spots on my Best Actor list (I didn't even mention Nick Nolte killing his role), Director, Best Editing, Most Appealing Couple, Best Implementation of Pop Music, Best Scene, and a new category it inspired me to create: Best Emotional Manipulation.

Warrior (Gavin O'Connor, 2011) - 90

End of Year Music #6

2011-12-15T21:16:00.002-05:00

Cults - "Abducted"

Some retro ear candy for the last day of my semester. This was on heavy repeat in my car during the summer.

End of Year Music #5

2011-12-12T17:13:00.003-05:00

Phantogram - "Don't Move"

I guess I'll continue the quasi-nepotism of the last entry with this one. I'm not sure if this band stuck with me because of genuine merit or because of my friend Wes' facebook feed constantly telling me how great they were. Either way, I really like this song.

End of Year Music #4

2011-12-10T11:59:00.003-05:00

tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness"

I think I got the upper-case and the lower-case letters where they were supposed to go in that spelling. A special thank you to fellow blog contributor Emily Baker for pushing me over the edge and getting me to listen to tUnE-yArDs. I had heard lots of good things and finally decided to check them out after her rave about them on this blog. I realize I posted one of the songs she did but no matter. It's definitely worth hearing twice or a hundred times for that matter. The video's worth watching as well so I didn't bother with shrinking the link this time.

End of Year Music #3

2011-12-09T16:11:00.004-05:00

Burial - "NYC"

If I had to name two musicians that really got me interested in the emotional possibilities of electronica music or techno or whatever pejorative term I used to refer to that music as, Burial and the Knife would probably be the two. Burial's sound is as simple in it's effectiveness as Spoon's bare-bones bass, guitar, vocal and percussion is in the indie-world. He uses simple beats, ambient noise, and warped vocals and that's pretty much it. He's been doing it for about 5 years and the results are usually impressive. One of the few artists (Spoon definitely being another one) that I can instantly recognize just by the first 10 or 15 seconds of the music in the track. Extra credit for The Wire sample used at the end of this song.

November 2011 Viewing Log

2011-12-09T09:02:00.000-05:00

Things I Learned This Month:

1. I actually really like The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Somewhere (2010) is growing on me.

I'd only seen The Virgin Suicides once before and got inspired to after reading Tavi Gevinson and Elle Fanning rave about it in an interview. That interview somehow inspired me to take trip through all of Sofia's films and I think I upgraded each of them. I had no idea that The Virgin Suicides was so self-assured and extremely well-constructed. It's got a steep hill to climb with its subject matter but manages to almost be likable. There's a fantastic scene where the neighborhood boys call the Lisbon girls and they play records back and forth to each other.

Somewhere is also definitely growing on me, even if I still think it's the slightest of Sofia's career.

2. Melancholia Doesn't Do It For Me
I know that a lot of cinephiles have pegged this as one of the great films of the year, but I don't find anything after its really nice opening montage anything but tedious. The problem is that I don't connect with any of the characters. Kirsten Dunst is possibly Von Trier's hardest "heroine" to connect with. Although I can't speak for Charlotte Gainsbourg in Antichrist, since I will probably never see that film.

3. Rain Man Is One Of My Favorite Best Picture Winners

I hesitate to even mention the Oscars, as I try to make it a rule to rarely, if ever, talk about them, but it's been over twenty years since this particular ceremony and I was pleasantly pleased to note that I actually like this particular piece of emotionally manipulative tripe.

4. I Can't Make Myself See What "Everyone" Sees In Some Like It Hot
There are those who would attempt to convince you that Some Like It Hot marks the career peak of Billy Wilder, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, and Tony Curtis. Don't believe it for a minute. There are some good bits toward the beginning but as it wears on it leans heavily and repeatedly on the very fact that the film's stars are cross-dressing to hold your interest. Neither man looks even remotely feminine and neither of them is particularly funny as a woman. In fact, Lemmon's most appealing comic trait - his insecurity - is mostly masked when he's in drag. For a much better cross-dressed performance, and in my opinion, a better film, see Tootsie.

I feel a post coming on about movies that the majority of people (or critics) seem to love but that don't do it for me even after several viewings. I've already got a list in my head.

5. Galaxy Quest (and Three Amigos! (spoiler for next month) Is A Major Love
I saw Galaxy Quest in the theater with my sister back in 1999. And I don't think I'd watched it all the way through since despite running into pieces of it on TV or on VHS. I was struck this time around by how well-constructed it is. Tim Allen has an annoying tendency to always play the same character, but that's managed well here. The real genius of the whole thing is the beautiful, hilarious sincerity of the Thermians. Good comedy repeatedly implements the unexpected.

Bonus Screengrabs:

4-Nov-2011 Arsenic and Old Lace Frank Capra 1944 72
4-Nov-2011 The Dirty Dozen Robert Aldrich 1967 75
6-Nov-2011 Super 8 J.J. Abrams 2011 80
7-Nov-2011 Somewhere Sofia Coppola 2010 77
8-Nov-2011 Broadway Danny Rose Woody Allen 1984 81
10-Nov-2011 Where Eagles Dare Brian G. Hutton 1968 60
11-Nov-2011 The Quest For Fire Jean-Jacques Annaud 1981 85
12-Nov-2011 Winnie the Pooh Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall 2011 65
13-Nov-2011 Tabloid Errol Morris 2011 71
13-Nov-2011 Melancholia Lars Von Trier 2011 42
13-Nov-2011 Rise of the Planet of the Apes Rupert Wyatt 2011 48
14-Nov-2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh 2011 53
14-Nov-2011 Our Idiot Brother Jesse Peretz 2011 18
14-Nov-2011 Jumanji Joe Johnston 1995 68
14-Nov-2011 The Virgin Suicides Sofia Coppola 1999 90
15-Nov-2011 Rain Man Barry Levinson 1988 85
15-Nov-2011 Singles Cameron Crowe 1992 37
17-Nov-2011 Boogie Nights Paul Thomas Anderson 1997 95
18-Nov-2011 Galaxy Quest Dean Parisot 1999 87
18-Nov-2011 The Beastmaster Don Coscarelli 1982 50
19-Nov-2011 The Cell Tarsem Singh 2000 62
19-Nov-2011 Sydney Paul Thomas Anderson 1997 95
21-Nov-2011 Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door Shinichirô Watanabe, Hiroyuki Okiura 2001 48
23-Nov-2011 El Dorado Howard Hawks 1966 55
24-Nov-2011 The Miracle Woman Frank Capra 1931 68
26-Nov-2011 Cowboys & Aliens Jon Favreau 2011 62
28-Nov-2011 Fright Night Craig Gillespie 2011 69
28-Nov-2011 Some Like It Hot Billy Wilder 1959 62
29-Nov-2011 Lost In Translation Sofia Coppola 2003 95
29-Nov-2011 Immortals Tarsem Singh 2011 74
30-Nov-2011 The Clan of the Cave Bear Michael Chapman 1986 30
30-Nov-2011 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Joe Johnston 1989 86

End of Year Music #2

2011-12-08T19:51:00.007-05:00

Gil Scott Heron and Jamie xx - "I'll Take Care of You"

I'm fairly certain Jamie xx remixed anything he could get his hands on this year. My admiration for the XX is pretty well known to Nathan (as is Nathan's admiration for them to anyone who reads this blog). Jamie xx retains many of the same sounds and moods that made the XX's debut album so compelling in alot of his remixes. This is probably my favorite of the lot. Not coincidentally, Drake and Rihanna perform what amounts to a remake of this song on Drake's new album Take Care. Apparently, Drake also kept a copy of James Blake's debut LP in the studio when he was making Take Care. Who knew he was such a big dubstep fan? Anyway, his version is also worth checking out:

Drake ft. Rihanna - "Take Care"

Screengrab #4 - The Three Stooges (2012)

2011-12-08T15:39:00.001-05:00

Some End of Year Music

2011-12-07T20:47:00.004-05:00

One of the benefits of going back to school is the opportunity to listen to more music. I don't know if everyone is like this, but I can usually have music playing in the background and it not be distracting while I study. I imagine I've missed out on countless hours of music listening in the past 10 years simply because I haven't held a desk job. Anyway, I figured since the end of the year is coming up and this is usually the time of year blogs and webzines and such do this sort of thing, I thought I'd post some of my favorite songs of the year. Hopefully, I can manage one a day til the new year and actually get more than a song or two posted:

I'm a huge fan of these guys. Their first album, Saint Dymphna, was a great mix of world, house, dub-step, hip-hop and almost any conceivable dance style. They continue that tradition with 2011's Eye Contact though they've also branched out a little into ambient territory. "Glass Jar" is probably my favorite track on the album, beginning with a very ambient soundscape that slowly builds to a typical GGD track.

Screengrab #2 - Super 8 (2011)

2011-11-28T20:36:00.001-05:00

2011-11-25T08:59:00.001-05:00

"My level of anticipation and trepidation is already way too high. I had goosebumps at about 9 am. I think watching the game today might be a serious threat to my spiritual, emotional, and physical health."

-from an email I sent to Jeremy Massey this morning.

2011-11-22T15:23:00.001-05:00

Ewan McGregor Joins Noah Baumbach's 'The Corrections' For HBO

Ugh.

For those of you who don't know, this is a pairing of one of my favorite directors (and one of my favorite recent novels) with one of my least-favorite actors. I just hope they aren't about to announce that James Franco is in it. Thus far every casting announcement for The Corrections has made me wince.

Insanity

2011-11-21T10:12:00.001-05:00

Here's a post I started writing on Monday and never posted:

1. Here Comes The Heartbreak.
I'm steeling myself for Friday already. Arkansas has the best team and highest ranking they've had in my lifetime and they're going into what will probably be the one of the biggest heartbreaking losses in my lifetime. I don't know what to do to make myself care less. I'm trying not to think about it. I'm tempted to pull the razorback magnet off of my car. I just don't want to be stumbling around aimlessly for days afterward.

2. The NFL Is Boring
The NFL followed the two most exciting days of college football this season with its most boring slate of games of the season. I watched no more than 15 minutes of football yesterday, and barely paid attention to what little I did see. The Bills have fallen off an incredibly steep cliff. The Lions look to be fading as well. There are a bunch of teams that aren't any fun to watch right now (In my estimation, the fun teams are: Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, New England, Baltimore, Carolina, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Philadelphia, Detroit and Cincinnati).

EDIT
After keeping track of the Thanksgiving Day games yesterday I was struck by how boring the NFL is right now compared to college football. I know it's not really fair to compare the mid-season in the NFL to what is essentially the NCAA's playoffs, but I can't help myself. All I feel about the NFL right now is disappointment that we probably won't get to see the Ravens and Packers lose until the playoffs.

Neanderthal Adventure? Count me in!

2011-11-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

Why didn't I know that there was a neanderthal movie with Ron Perlman in it until just a few days ago? I somehow managed to stay in the dark about The Quest for Fire (1981) until I read a review of the Blu-ray on DVD Beaver. Not only did I enjoy the almost wordless, grunt-heavy film, but it put me in the mood to hunt down other caveman films.

That's Anthony Burgess of A Clockwork Orange fame below who wrote the "special languages" in the film.

The Quest For Fire (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1981) - 85

Nominee For Best Movie Poster Ever #1

2011-11-11T14:31:00.001-05:00

Watching Super 8 and Somewhere Again

2011-11-11T10:45:00.000-05:00

Each year there are a handful of films that I don't think are great but that I find myself coming back to over and over again. Generally they have somewhat obvious flaws but also transcendant moments that I can't get out of my head.

Super 8, for example, contains my two favorite scenes of the year thus far. I watched it for a second time last week and am amazed that so many wonderful moments between Elle Fanning's Alice and Joel Courtney's Joe exist alongside scenes that can barely muster a heartbeat. If the movie could be edited down so that it doesn't really concern the alien, the military or the kids' fathers, I'd be in favor of it.

The thing is, those scenes are so good, that I find myself watching portions of the movie over and over again, just watching the good parts, and ignoring the lame.

Recently, I've had the same experience with Somewhere, which I had a pretty strong negative reaction to when I saw it for the first time last year. I think my expectations were much too high after Sofia's previous two films. I was hoping for something a little tighter, with more memorable dialogue, and a little more from Stephen Dorff than sleeping in and drifting through seemingly endless off-screen one-night stands.

I felt like checking Somewhere out again after after watching Super 8, almost entirely because of Elle Fanning's involvement. She is incredibly good in both films. Each performance seems largely effortless and entirely sincere.

While Somewhere isn't a masterpiece, it's still a beguiling minorpiece. Like, Lost in Translation it's a movie I've found myself putting on in the background while I'm doing something else. It's on right now.

There's a really good, brief, wordless exchange between Cleo (Fanning) and Johnny (Dorff) over breakfast in Italy after they had gelato in bed in their hotel suite, she fell asleep, an Italian girl he had a history with showed up and spent the night with him in the other bedroom, and then joined them for breakfast and started asking Cleo if she had a boyfriend. Cleo never once says anything to her father about all of the women he sees, but she looks at him with a quiet devastation that cuts right through me.

And then there's that scene when they get back to the Chateau Marmont after the Italy trip and eat supper in the lobby and she leans against him while Romeo, one of the hotel porters, sings them a song. I can't believe that she's anything but his daughter in that scene.

Interestingly, Marie Antoinette took a while to migrate onto my list of favorites from 2006. It's still a movie that I find it very easy to come back to.

Just for the fun of thinking them up, here's a list of other more recent movies that aren't on my list of favorites in their respective year, but that I can't help but keep coming back to: The Spirit (2008), King Kong (2005), Rocket Science (2007), The Happening (2008), and Duplicity (2009). I have no explanation for these films, aside from the fact that they've each got some individual element that gets stuck in my head and that I have to experience again now and then.

2011-11-10T15:31:00.001-05:00

Sweet and Lowdown (Woody Allen, 1999)

2011-11-10T15:29:00.000-05:00

Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997)

October Viewing Log

2011-11-09T21:42:00.000-05:00

Things I learned this month:

1. 1984 Was A Great Year For Movies
Not only do I love Red Dawn, I also have a soft spot for The Karate Kid. Plus, 1984 was the year the introduced us to the Terminator, the Ghostbusters and Buckaroo Banzai. Plus, it's the year Starman, one of my favorite John Carpenter films came out. And also Love Streams, Cassavetes' last really good movie.

2. Drive is OK, But It Isn't The Best Movie Of 2011
I actually ended up liking Drive more than I expected to. Carey Mulligan has perhaps never looked cuter. And I really liked Bryan Cranston's auto mechanic with a bum leg. But unfortunately its best scene is the very first one you see, and it never really hits the same level for the remainder of its runtime.

3. I Really Like The Princess Bride
I hadn't seen The Princess Bride in probably ten years or more and knew I liked it, but I had no idea how much. It probably scores in my top 30 movies ever, which came as a bit of a surprise to me. The other thing I didn't remember was how fantastic Peter Falk is. His performance is why the framing device of the boy and his grandpa needs to exist.

4. The Jurassic Park Sequels Are Just As Weak As I Remembered Them Being
I'd never seen Jurassic Park III prior to a few weeks ago. I actually think I might have liked it a little bit better than Lost World, which has a good set-piece (the lab trailer going over the cliff), but comes off as sort of mean-spirited and even a little tawdry in the way it bloodily kills off all of the corporate bad guys.

5. Larry Crowne Is Not An Underrated Gem
I was holding out some hope that it would be, but alas, it was more like Tom Hanks (who's got some definite directorial talent, see That Thing You Do!) trying mightily to make something good with both arms tied behind his back by a weak script.

Things that got significant upgrades on this viewing:
Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Princess Bride, Alien:Resurrection, Jerry Maguire

First viewings of things I loved:
Red Dawn, The Misfits, The Guns of Navarone, Night Train To Munich, Midnight in Paris,

1-Oct-2011 The Untouchables Brian De Palma 1987 82
2-Oct-2011 Ferris Bueller's Day Off John Hughes 1986 88
3-Oct-2011 Obsession Brian De Palma 1976 57
4-Oct-2011 American Madness Frank Capra 1932 79
6-Oct-2011 The Libertine Laurence Dunmore 2004 69
6-Oct-2011 Green Lantern Martin Campbell 2011 48
7-Oct-2011 The Princess Bride Rob Reiner 1987 94
7-Oct-2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Michael Bay 2011 80
10-Oct-2011 An American Werewolf In London John Landis 1981 72
10-Oct-2011 The Karate Kid John G. Avildsen 1984 80
10-Oct-2011 Red Dawn John Milius 1984 90
11-Oct-2011 Moneyball Bennett Miller 2011 51
12-Oct-2011 Night Train To Munich Carol Reed 1940 81
13-Oct-2011 The Karate Kid II John G. Avildsen 1986 63
14-Oct-2011 Midnight Mitchell Leisen 1939 79
14-Oct-2011 Midnight In Paris Woody Allen 2011 81
15-Oct-2011 Captain America: The First Avenger Joe Johnston 2011 62
15-Oct-2011 Jerry Maguire Cameron Crowe 1996 90
18-Oct-2011 The Game David Fincher 1997 83
19-Oct-2011 Drive Nicolas Winding Refn 2011 77
20-Oct-2011 You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger Woody Allen 2010 64
20-Oct-2011 Rare Exports Jalmari Helander 2010 62
21-Oct-2011 Cars 2 John Lasseter, Brad Lewis 2011 65
23-Oct-2011 Design For Living Ernst Lubitsch 1933 79
24-Oct-2011 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg 1997 55
27-Oct-2011 The Guns of Navarone J. Lee Thompson 1961 86
27-Oct-2011 Flushed Away David Bowers, Sam Fell 2006 34
27-Oct-2011 Jurassic Park III Joe Johnston 2001 60
28-Oct-2011 The Misfits John Huston 1961 90
29-Oct-2011 Singin' In The Rain Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen 1952 93
31-Oct-2011 Alien: Resurrection Jean-Pierre Jeunet 1997 86
31-Oct-2011 Larry Crowne Tom Hanks 2011 48

Sports Roundup

2011-11-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

I haven't written one of these in a little while because of being busy with other things, but felt inclined.

1. Heart Ripped Out
I stayed up last night until around 1 AM my time to watch the Steelers-Ravens game, which felt more like 2 AM after the time change. Let's just say that the Ravens' last second win was a little painful. OK. A lot painful. The good news is that this is not the playoffs. The Ravens don't win in the playoffs. I keep telling myself this. The Ravens don't win in the playoffs.

2. Stomach Ripped Out
Man, everyone pretty much knew it would happen, but, darn, it was rough to see the Bills getting manhandled by the Jets.

3. Appendix Ripped Out
The Seattle Sounders play so late that I can't possibly see the end of their playoff games, but they lost 3-0 in the first half of a two game series last week and couldn't climb the goal differential mountain with a 2-0 win at home. Yesterday, the team that I had decided I was now pulling for, Sporting KC, got booted. So, my foray into MLS fandom comes to an unceremonious close. I may watch the MLS Cup in two weeks to root against David Beckham. If I can stay up late enough.

4. My Favorite Sports Experience of the Week
Watching Arkansas win against South Carolina on Saturday night strengthened me for the pains of Sunday reasonably well. I wasn't enjoying it a whole lot until the fourth quarter, but watching Arkansas in the fourth quarter of games has been more fun this season than any I can remember. LSU also won, which insures that they'll be No. 1 in the Battle for the Boot. My heart should be re-installed in my chest by then, all fresh to be ripped out again.

There are moments when I ask myelf, "Why am I a sports fan?" Last night was one of them. The pain of that kind of a loss is sharper than my disappointment in a bad movie or a weak book. And I don't really find myself going back and examining past losses for little things to like or things that worked.

Then again, I remember some of the losses as well as I do the victories. Enduring losses is a bigger part of being a sports fan than enjoying victory. I've gotten better at it over the years, too. But that isn't to say it doesn't hurt as much. I just don't react as strongly.

Half-Life

2011-11-02T22:23:00.000-04:00

It's probably reasonably clear that I'm a very big fan of the Alien franchise. I don't think I should need to clarify that this has nothing to do with any film that doesn't feature Sigourney Weaver. Alien is one of my favorite films of all time (It currently scores a 98) and Aliens isn't far behind (with a score of 91). I even love Alien 3 (the "assembly cut" mind you) (it scores a 90).

For most fans of the franchise the final two films are the subject of varying levels of derision, but after watching the extended cut of Alien: Resurrection today, I am very pleased to embrace the entire quadrilogy. In the form that it exists in on the Quadrilogy box set, I think each film is clearly a masterpiece.

I might as well just make my argument for why Alien: Resurrection is great in list form.

1. It gets the formula right: Ripley + Corporate Bad Guys (or CBG) + xenomorph(s) + droid revelation - CBG + strobe lights + steam + flame thrower + vaseline = masterpiece

2. A 47 year-old woman in an action movie: The wonderful thing about the franchise is that Sigourney ages by 18 years but still remains the toughest person on screen. She's honestly my favorite action hero ever. No other action star has a tougher persona, faces odds so stacked against them, and yet has such an amazing depth of character.

3. It pushes the story forward into extremely interesting new territory: After Aliens, the franchise takes an interesting turn toward introspection and self-loathing. The xenomorphs aren't just an external thing, but they get inside us, too. Alien: Resurrection has some scenes that take the self-loathing on directly, in particular the scene between Ripley and Annallee (Winona Ryder) in the chapel where they talk about living with the monsters they think they are.

Ripley also has a somewhat different personality in A:R, which makes sense, because she isn't entirely human anymore and isn't really the same person as in the previous films. I love that the film pushes in that direction, that we're seeing a mutation more than a Resurrection, and then in some fantastic moments the old Ripley plainly breaks through.

4. It has Winona Ryder in it (and Ron Perlman as a bonus): This might be my favorite Winona Ryder role. Beetlejuice is the other career standout. I've always really liked Winona. She's been a highlight of Black Swan and Star Trek recently. But Resurrection gives her a fantastic role. And she nails it.

5. It's got mothers: The extended cut of Resurrection is I think without a doubt the bloodiest, gooiest film of the series. It's also much darker than I remembered. It has a larger group of colorful characters than any of the previous films and tons and tons of saliva, blood, acid, and a little droid goo.

I think the Alien films have always had a sexual undertone, even if there is very little in the way of actual sex in the series (Alien 3 has a brief scene), and bodily fluids of various kinds run rampant throughout the series. Interestingly, the references to sex are fairly muted, but motherhood comes more and more to the fore as the series goes along and Ripley ends up with two non-biological children at the end of Resurrection.

The film also inspired me to hurry up and check out Jeunet's pre-Resurrection films, Delicatessen and City of Lost Children. I liked Amelie and haven't really cared for A Very Long Engagement and Mic-Macs, but the guy is clearly very talented, and he obviously gets what Alien is all about and builds on its story like an expert.

Alien: Resurrection (Jean-Pierre Jeunet, 1997) - 86

Sad, Sad, Sad...

2011-11-02T22:18:00.001-04:00

I wrote the "sad, sad, sad" above in my notebook while I was watching The Misfits on Friday afternoon and periodically copying down lines of dialogue that stuck in my head. It's undoubtedly a sad film, mostly, because the characters in the film so closely reflect the brokenness and tragedy in the lives of the people playing them.

Clark Gable was reportedly one of Marilyn Monroe's childhood idols, so, cast against the events that I know followed it's hard not to get choked up by their characters in the film. Gable had a heart attack a few days after filming wrapped and died several days later. Monroe died about a year and a half later and never completed another film. Montgomery Clift looks different than in his previous films because of reconstructive surgery on his face after a car accident in 1956. He died of a heart attack six years later after undertaking what has been referred to as the "longest suicide in Hollywood history". Monroe supposedly said Clift was "The only person I know who is in even worse shape than I am."

In addition, screenwriter Arthur Miller's marriage to Monroe was disintegrating and John Huston was drunk much of the time on set.

I suppose that an environment like that can either produce a work of art that's intensely guarded and controlled and fake or something nakedly real that verges on documentary. The Misfits, probably obviously at this point, is the latter.

It's not just an expose of people dying and coming apart at the seams, even though the entire thing is permeated by death and the knowledge that it's swiftly approaching. It's an incredibly well-crafted, downbeat hangout movie, a last hangout with a group of characters that I can't help but immediately take to and care about intensely. There are only a few films that effect me as strongly, where the characters are so strong that any attempt at story is almost unnecessary: Rio Bravo, Jackie Brown, Sydney (which was released as Hard Eight against Paul Thomas Anderson's wishes), even Jerry Maguire and Greenberg.

Here's some of the dialogue I wrote down:

- "If I'm gonna be alone, I want to be by myself."

- "I'm dying for some fresh air. And no people. Male or female."

- "She's kind of hard to figure out. One minute she looks kind of dumb. And brand new. Like a kid. And the next minute... ...she sure moves, though, don't she?"

- "We're all dying, aren't we? All the husbands and all the wives. Every minute. And we're not teaching each other what we really know."

- "You ain't kiddin'. Even when you're kiddin', you ain't kiddin'."

The Misfits contains one of the best performances in the careers of every actor who appears in it. It's hard to believe, but I can't think of anything from the four leads (Monroe, Gable, Clift and Wallach) that's better. Unfortunately, I don't think any of them were able to appreciate it. Famously, on the night Montgomery Clift died, The Misfits was on TV, and his secretary asked him if he wanted to watch it. He said, "Absolutely not", which ended up being his final recorded statement to another human being.

I think it was probably too raw. Gable reportedly saw a rough cut by the end of the shoot and said it was the "best thing I've ever done".

And the saddest.

Movies at their very best are about connecting with people, about loving people. And The Misfits elicits an incredible amount of love from me. It would be hard not to identify with such vibrant and pitiable people.

The Misfits (John Huston, 1961) - 90

2011-10-27T10:25:00.004-04:00

This picture is even more exciting than The Lorax trailer.

The Lorax Doesn't Look Bad!

2011-10-27T10:17:00.000-04:00

Chris Renaud the co-director of Despicable Me (and the upcoming Despicable Me 2) has teamed up with Kyle Balda (who also worked on Despicable Me) to direct an adaptation of Dr. Suess' The Lorax. The good news is that it might not be half-bad. It might even be good.

While critics have flocked to anoint flagship Dreamworks productions like Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon (I still don't get the spiritual experience some people had with this film on IMAX.), a number of animation studios have been trotting out some very good, underpraised animated films in the past several years. Things like Monsters Vs. Aliens, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Megamind and Despicable Me.

The big question is whether The Lorax can overcome Danny DeVito in a starring vocal role. Surprisingly, there isn't a single thing in the trailer that makes me recoil.

I'm pumped for this. Xan has been asking me to take him to the theater and the horizon has looked pretty bare.

Did Anyone Else Notice The Spike Jonze Cameo In Moneyball?

2011-10-20T11:28:00.000-04:00

That was one of my favorite things about the film. (He played Billy Bean's ex-wife's boyfriend.)

Before You Start Judging...

2011-10-16T17:29:00.000-04:00

I think there are blind spots in every movie lover's perspective, whether it be a knee-jerk desire to love every minimalistic film released by an Iranian filmmaker, everything David Fincher has ever put his name to that isn't Alien 3 or any Disney animated feature with a princess and/or fox in it, and at some point as a reader of film criticism, it's easy to reach a moment where you go "Aha! They just like that because they're a frustrated, single 30-something or they fought in a war or they have this weird thing for Parker Posey." and just write off the writer's opinion as something that isn't really for the rest of us and tainted in some way.

I begin with this long-winded and confusing introductory sentence because I want to preface this piece by saying that my take on Jerry Maguire is not that. Or at least I don't think so. I'm not handicapped by a love for the work of Tom Cruise or Renee Zellweger (and definitely not Cuba Gooding Jr.) or a pervasive 90's nostalgia. This movie didn't make a strong impression on me when I was 14. I'm of sound mind and my normal critical point of view, and I can't help but find it to be anything less than a remarkably good film, a masterpiece even.

I know that calling Jerry Maguire a masterpiece goes against all of my usual prejudices against catch-phrases and unexceptional cinematography, but the power of what it's trying to get at, the really great moments in it trump that. And, actually, I have to admit that the lines "Show me the money!", "You complete me." and "You had me at hello." still work for me because of all of the things that the movie does right.

There have been a few good, optimistic, inspirational filmmakers. Frank Capra is the grandaddy of that group, and John Hughes and Cameron Crowe could be his grandsons. I can't really think of any other filmmakers who can pull off scenes with impassioned speeches and principled sacrifices and wholesome happily-ever-after moments as well. It's a hard balance to keep. Possibly the hardest one for an artist.

So, I like that Jerry Maguire boils down to a meditation on commitment. I like that Cameron Crowe is so intensely positive about marriage. But I don't think that I'd be as keyed up on those elements of the film if it didn't have such vibrant characters and lots of good humor. I like that Tom Cruise is doing a head stand against the wall in one scene, that the goldfish play a recurring and significant (although I'm not sure of the significance. And I like that.) role, that there's a random white family watching the final football game with the extended Tidwell family, that Chad randomly gives Jerry a Miles Davis/John Coltrane/Charles Mingus mix tape, that Jerry's best show-off moniker for himself is "King of the Living Room"...

There are a number of scenes that stand on their own as just great scenes: Jerry getting fired and scrambling to maintain his clients, Jerry giving his speech to everyone at his agency, Jerry and Dorothy's date, Jerry coming over drunk to Dorothy's house, Jerry and Rod walking and talking after the Eagles game, Jerry bursting in on the divorced women's group after the Cowboys game and giving Dorothy his "you complete me" speech.

It's really not much of a stretch to imagine a Capra version of Jerry Maguire with Jimmy Stewart in the lead role, Lionel Barrymore playing Jay Mohr's Bob Sugar, Donna Reed as Dorothy, and more likely a white football player playing Rod Tidwell, probably Gary Cooper with Jean Arthur as his wife. I have a harder time imagining a John Hughes version, mostly because I can't think of a good way to transpose a sports agent into the world of high school. Suffice it to say, Hughes' version would probably have starred Steve Martin and not been as good as Crowe's'.

After I watched Jerry Maguire, I took another look at the trailer for We Bought A Zoo, and it looks almost like a remake. There looks to be a dead spouse, a cute kid, a workplace speech after Damon is fired, a friend who brings sage life advice, a precocious teenager... Crowe has recycled some of the same elements in each of his films, so it's not necessarily a bad thing. I'm interested to see Damon in a Crowe film and I don't entirely buy the Lifetime look of the trailer. Also, the inclusion of Elle Fanning doesn't hurt.

Almost Famous is the cool Cameron Crowe film to like. Vanilla Sky seemed to have a brief window of coolness before it was completely forgotten. Say Anything. is sort of retro cool. It gets a pass from everyone who's nostalgic for the 80's. I don't think Jerry Maguire has ever been cool to like. Which is fine. I might even like Jerry Maguire a little bit better than the bootleg cut of Almost Famous. I know that smacks of heresy to the hip, but, then again, Jerry Maguire is an awesome, unhip movie.

Almost Famous (Cameron Crowe, 1996) - 90

The Avengers Had Better Be Good. Marvel's Only Made Four Crappy Prequels For It.

2011-10-15T17:52:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately, I don't think it will be, despite the involvement of Joss Whedon, the best director to helm a Marvel film thus far (And Jon Favreau is now riding his second straight bad film since taking on the Iron Man job, so we'd better hope there aren't permanent negative side effects.), because too much is riding on it. It needs to make a billion dollars, which doesn't leave much room for originality or even the whiff of an artistic risk.

Oh, and by my count, the crappy Marvel prequels are everything that's followed Iron Man (2007), which I'm a big fan of.

Iron Man 2 (2010, Jon Favreau) - 70
The Incredible Hulk (2008, Louis Leterrier) - 64
Thor (2011, Kenneth Branagh) - 67
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, Joe Johnston) - 62

I'd like to never see Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D. (Clark Gregg) ever again. I can't think of any other characters who have appeared in several movies so pointlessly. Their characters are the equivalent of commercial breaks for Morgan Stanley and Flo-Max ads.

Also, I saw enough of Scarlett Johanssen's character in Iron Man 2 that I never want to see her again. Why she gets to be a member of The Avengers is beyond me. Marvel has a good thing going with Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans. They were both one of the best things about their respective movies. Robert Downey Jr. is still appealing to me as Tony Stark. And Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo are unknown quantities.

Here's hoping that Joss Whedon can wield enough control to play on the comedic potential of Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America hanging out together. It's most likely a vain hope.

Midnight

2011-10-14T21:50:00.001-04:00

Coincidentally, I watched another movie today with Midnight in the title and which also happens to be set in Paris. It's Mitchell Leisen's Midnight (1939) (I gave it a 79). I also snapped this screengrab:

Woody Allen's Inception

2011-10-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

It occurred to me most of the way through Midnight In Paris and its meditation on the power of nostalgia that it has a striking similarity to Inception, not to mention the fact that both films feature Marion Cotillard as a girl trapped within layers of dream. I don't know if Woody Allen was influenced by the Christopher Nolan film, but I like to think that he was.

Midnight In Paris trots out a bunch of historical figures, but they all seem an organic part of its fabric, and they never stop being vibrant and fun. Corey Stoll's Hemingway and Adrien Brody's Salvador Dali were particularly delightful.

I was beguiled by the film. It broke over me slowly (not unlike a cloud of smoke from a Gitane or a Parisian drizzle). It's great that after lavishing so much love on New York, Woody Allen has started to have cinematic affairs with European cities. His next film is set in Rome. I mentioned to Sarah that I hope he lives long enough to be making movies about Bangkok and Hong Kong.

Midnight In Paris (Woody Allen, 2011) - 81

Oscar Isaac Is The Coen Bros.' Man

2011-10-13T22:32:00.002-04:00

I'm was happy to read that Oscar Isaac, one of the best things about Sucker Punch, is going to star in the Coens' Inside Llewyn Davis. He's a great actor, and one I'm happy to see in things where he doesn't have to play the Arab ally of an American operative in the Middle East. (via The Playlist)

I Really, Really Liked Red Dawn, Though

2011-10-12T20:48:00.000-04:00

Back before Dirty Dancing, Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey were in another movie about teenagers fighting an army of Nicaraguan, Cuban and Russian communists in the mountains around Calumet, Colorado. John Milius was coming off the success of Conan The Barbarian and Kevin Reynolds (Kevin Costner's future collaborator) had written his first feature film script with him. What they made was one heck of a war movie, one that had me going from beginning to end, and one which stuck with me for days.

Red Dawn (John Milius, 1984) - 90

Moneyball's Bankrupt

2011-10-12T20:10:00.001-04:00

I went out with a group of friends last night to see Moneyball, one of the better-reviewed movies of the year. I wasn't a fan, even though I'm a big fan of the events the film is concerned with, Aaron Sorkin, and Brad Pitt.

It reminded me of The King's Speech, and while that may seem disingenuous to those who fell deliriously in love with that film, there are a striking number of similarities. Both films are about the relationships between two men: one who's more powerful and the other in possession of a radical technique to cure the others' problems. They're also both shot so that there is never more than one thing happening in the frame at any given time: here's a shot of Brad Pitt's face, here is a baseball, here is a man sitting at a desk.

I got bored pretty fast. And not because it's about baseball or statistics, but because Aaron Sorkin, Bennett Miller, and everyone else involved didn't really try to do more than make a half-decent adaptation of a half-decent script based on a reportedly decent book. Despite that fact, I enjoyed that Billy Beane (Pitt) was too superstitious to actually watch any of the A's' games.

I should have remembered that critical consensus is generally a seal of mediocrity.

Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011) - 51

Sports Roundup

2011-10-10T12:37:00.000-04:00

1. Surprising Fakes, Real Surprises

Teams that will win their divisions: San Diego, San Francisco (surprise, surprise), New Orleans.

Teams that will probably win their divisions: Green Bay, New England, Houston, Washington, Baltimore

Scrappy Fighters That Have A Chance At A Division Win: Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Oakland, NY Giants

Teams That Have A Little Playoff Fight In Them: NY Jets, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Chicago

Teams That Will Claw Their Way To A Losing Record: Carolina, Philadelphia

Everyone else is likely done. One of the teams left is going to surprise.

Biggest Surprises of the Season:

1. Philadelphia being terrible

2. Buffalo turning out to be an offensive powerhouse

3. San Francisco starting 4-1

4. Detroit Starting 4-0

5. Cam Newton being a stud

6. The Bengals being any good at all

2. The Bills Are A Ton Of Fun

There's no team that's as big a feel-good story as the Bills right now. I really love seeing the players picking out the spot in the stands they want to jump into. The team is also the perfect example of a bunch of non-stars building something that's much more than the sum of their parts. They've all been back-ups and passed over. I just hope they can keep it going. They need a win against the Giants this week to round out a 5-1 start before the bye and stay on track for the playoffs.

3. The Brewers Are Going To Test The Limits Of Writers' Beer Metaphors

The heavyweights are gone. Milwaukee actually seems to be the feel-good favorite at this point. I can't tell if this year's playoffs are going to be boring or electrifying. A Milwaukee-Texas pairing in the Series looks like it will be the most dramatic: two teams going for their first title, the possibility of Josh Hamilton, Prince Fielder, Ryan, Braun and Adrian Beltre going yard, a couple of good, young starters on each team, and John Axford's awesome facial hair (Ryan Fitzpatrick's doing a pretty good job with his mustache, too).

4. Australia Vs. New Zealand Is Going To Be Wild

The Wallabies and All Blacks are facing off in Auckland this weekend in the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup. I'm going to have to get up early.

2011-10-10T11:21:00.002-04:00

Got this email from Jeremy yesterday during the early games:

I love the Buffalo Bills. That is all.

Grantland Is Quickly Becoming A Must-Read

2011-10-06T19:23:00.000-04:00

You're probably aware that I'm a big Bill Simmons fan. I refer to the guy at least once a week in conversation with my wife. You might also know that he started a new site this year called Grantland which covers a lot more than sports. I've found myself reading a larger and larger percentage of the articles published there as time has gone on. Today delivered two great pieces:

- One called "Visiting The Other Team In The Georgetown Brawl" by Jim Yardley, about the Bayi Rockets, the Chinese team that threw chairs at some Georgetown players this summer. It's a really good take on Chinese pro basketball.

- Grantland also compiles a YouTube Hall of Fame each week and this week's theme was great deleted scenes. Bill Simmons chose two fantastic ones: one from Almost Famous where William introduces his mom to "Stairway To Heaven" and another that's a montage of reaction shots from the entire cast of Boogie Nights at an awards show.

Sports Roundup

2011-10-05T09:37:00.000-04:00

1. Who's For Real?
I posted last week that both the Bills and Lions were for real. But there are different levels of reality. Lots of teams can get lucky and go undefeated through the first quarter of the season. The second quarter is a different matter.

With their loss against the Bengals this week the Bills have created an uphill battle for themselves to the 5-1 mark I think they need by the time they reach their bye if they've got a shot at 10 wins. They've got a desperate Eagles team this week and a Giants team in week 6 that seems to always find ways to rack up wins that no one can explain.

The Lions, on the other hand, have had two incredible comeback wins (much like the Bills in weeks 3 and 4) and are playing their strongest opponent of the season. We won't really know if the Lions have a shot at shaking things up in the NFC until they've played the Packers, but the Bears will be a good test. Chances are they won't be able to afford falling behind as far against them as they did against the Cowboys and Vikings.

I'm all for both teams doing well this season. I've followed both of them fairly closely over the past several years and each fan base deserves every win they're getting right now.

2. Rugby Gets Serious
The World Cup quarterfinals are happening this weekend. My brother-in-law is from N. Ireland and is incredibly fortunate that his team got the easy side of the bracket. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are all stacked on the other side. I'm pulling for Argentina, but their chances of getting to the finals out of the hard side of the bracket look very slim.

3. My Team's Already Out of the Playoffs
Tampa Bay couldn't come back from a run down either of the past two nights and they're out. It's too bad, too, because if they had faced the Yankees in the semifinals we would have been treated to endless replays of their comeback against them in game 162 and encouraged by the announcers that no deficit was too large.

Now I guess I'll be pulling for Milwaukee and Detroit or Texas in the AL. I generally am happy when the Yankees lose regardless of the circumstances, but I'd like to see Philadelphia go down this year, too. I'll feel bad for Roy Halladay. But my general feeling is that teams that try to buy championships with big free agent signings should lose without exception.

4. The Sounders Won The U.S. Open and Why All Sports Should Have Mid-Season Championships
No, not the tennis tournament. The US Open is a 90+ year-old soccer tournament and Seattle are the three-peat champs. Only about a quarter of the MLS teams participate, so it's not as competitive as the MLS Cup, but I think it's a great. Wouldn't it be awesome if the NBA had a mid-season tournament with four NBA teams, a few NBA D-League teams, and some street ball teams? The NFL and CFL could have a quick tournament with eight teams in November. Baseball could definitely use a mid-season tournament with teams that have already been eliminated from playoff contention by August. I think every sport should have secondary mid-season championships.

September 2011 Viewing Log

2011-10-04T22:39:00.000-04:00

Things I Learned This Month:

1. I'm A Big Fan Of Early Mike Judge, A Moderate Gilliamite, and a Lubitsch Maniac.
I've been watching my way back through some Lubitsch lately and went crazy for Ninotchka and Cluny Brown (which was probably my big discovery of the month). I also for some reason was inspired to check out Terry Gilliam's ridiculous adaptation of Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and then The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, which starts out fantastic and then dies off once Robin Williams detached spinning head makes its appearance. I also rewatched Office Space and discovered that I really like it. I wasn't so crazy about Extract (my second time to see it), but Office Space is absolutely inspired: the neighbor who can hear everything through the wall, my favorite Stephen Root (True Grit notwithstanding) and Jennifer Aniston performances, the "Damn It Feels Good To Be A Gangster" montage. Is Beavis and Butthead Do America worth giving a shot?

2. I Really Love The 80's.
I watched 11 movies from the 80's this month. The Monster Squad was the major revelation. It's my numero uno film of 1987. So was The Lost Boys. All of Schumacher's visual genius plays out perfectly in it. Sort of gives you an idea of what he was trying for with his Batman films. Conan the Barbarian and Fright Night were great as well.

3. The Ewok Movies Aren't That Bad
I got inspired after watching Willow to watch the two made-for-TV Ewok films. They were actually both pretty decent. I preferred Ewoks: The Battle For Endor. It has better villains. These are the Star Wars films that I think it's pretty safe to say George Lucas won't be adding new CG elements to in the future.

4. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Is Better Than The Original
This surprised me. I like the original pretty well, but Bogus Journey has so many wonderful things going for it: trips to heaven and hell, evil robot "uses", Station the alien inventor, games of Battleship with Death.

5. Win Win Was Going To Make My 2011 List Until It Went All Mushy Toward The End
I was really grooving with Win Win, but the sour way it ended - we're talking super conventional and sappy - knocked at least fifteen points off its final score.

1-Sep-2011 Ninotchka (Ernst Lubitsch, 1939) 88
2-Sep-2011 The Monster Squad (Fred Dekker, 1987) 90
2-Sep-2011 Attack the Block (Joe Cornish, 2011) 41
4-Sep-2011 Jane Eyre (Cary Fukunaga, 2011) 40
5-Sep-2011 Conan The Barbarian (John Milius, 1982) 84
5-Sep-2011 Last Action Hero (John McTiernan, 1993) 82
5-Sep-2011 Super (James Gunn, 2011) 18
7-Sep-2011 Conan The Destroyer (Richard Fleischer, 1984) 71
8-Sep-2011 Bridesmaids (Paul Feig, 2011) 56
9-Sep-2011 Fright Night (Tom Holland, 1985) 82
11-Sep-2011 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Joe Johnston, 1989) 81
12-Sep-2011 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) 79
15-Sep-2011 Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Peter Hewitt, 1991) 84
16-Sep-2011 Cluny Brown (Ernst Lubitsch, 1946) 89
17-Sep-2011 Arachnophobia (Frank Marshall, 1990) 59
17-Sep-2011 Mom And Dad Save The World (Greg Beeman, 1992) 40
18-Sep-2011 The Killing (Stanley Kubrick, 1956) 75
19-Sep-2011 Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990) 80
19-Sep-2011 Ewoks: The Battle For Endor (Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, 1985) 78
20-Sep-2011 Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (Ernst Lubitsch, 1938) 74
22-Sep-2011 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Terry Gilliam , 1998) 76
26-Sep-2011 Adventures In Babysitting (Chris Columbus, 1987) 78
26-Sep-2011 The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam, 1988) 76
27-Sep-2011 Office Space (Mike Judge, 1999) 83
28-Sep-2011 Caravan of Courage (John Korty, 1984) 67
29-Sep-2011 Win Win (Thomas McCarthy, 2011) 68
29-Sep-2011 Extract (Mike Judge, 2009) 61
30-Sep-2011 The Lost Boys (Joel Schumacher, 1987) 87

2011-10-04T21:45:00.000-04:00

Sarah and I finally started tackling Transformers: DOTM tonight. It's going to take a few evenings to get through the entire 2.5 hrs. But so far it's been about as fun as my theatrical viewing. I'm disappointed all over again that I missed it in 3-D.

Hurry Up And Get Making It!

2011-09-30T22:01:00.000-04:00

There are a lot of things I'm looking forward to in 2012: Wes Anderson's Boy Scout runaway movie Moonrise Kingdom, The Master by P.T. Anderson, the Coens' Inside Llewyn Davis, Tarantino's Django Unchained and whatever Malick's been making with Ben Affleck and Christian Bale. But, I'm ridiculously psyched by the idea of Charlie Kaufman directing his second film with Nicolas Cage, Jack Black, Steve Carrell, and Kevin Kline starring.

Here's a piece of the premise (courtesy of The Playlist):

As the title suggests,“Frank Or Francis” is a ridiculously (relatively) epic story, built around two parallel characters, Frank Arder, a pretentious, self-important screenwriter-turned-filmmaker whose feature-film “You,” becomes a sensation in Hollywood after it’s nominated for a record-making 29 Academy Awards. Hard to explain in this space—audiences do see some of it in the film—and large in scope and scale, “You” centers on a homeless man played by Arder. In fact Arder plays every character in the film including women and children and characters of many races including African Americans.

Francis is an online blogger—no, that’s giving him far too much credit. He’s a loser, but a self-important, arrogant film-blog commenter who lives in his parents attic and his scathing critiques of Hollywood have earned him a bit of a following (we swear he’s modeled after LexG on Hollywood Elsewhere, but that’s likely a coincidence). There’s then actually one more “lead” character, Alan Modell (also known as the Emcee in the script due to his Oscar hosting duties), a comedian with a faltering career who is known for his wildly popular, immensely moronic “Fat Dad” roles.

These three stories run in parallel, only peripherally connected and then conjoin in the film’s wickedly funny and outrageous conclusion. This all feels like just the tip of the iceberg. As there are two love stories for both titular leads, singing throughout (more on that in a moment), a Romanian waitress and two talking ghost-like thumbs who have a Romanian political agenda. Yes, it’s very WTF-??-esque too.

Confusing matters more is Robert, a robot head programmed by Jonathan Waller, the director of a hit epic called, “Hiroshima.” When “Hiroshima” fails to win Best Picture, Jonathan and his brother Richard create Richard’s Head, the superwiz computer-brain programmed to write a screenplay that mathematically examines every successful screenplay in the history of movies and then makes one super-perfect script called, “God” (no, really).

And what makes this already bonkers story all the more bizarre? Half the dialogue, especially when people are writing on the Internet is sung.

In the hands of anyone else this would sound prohibitive, but if you've seen Synechdoche, New York and Adaptation. you know it's probably going to be awesome.

2011-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

I slept through the good parts of the best night of baseball in years. That was the best end to an O's season since I've been a fan. Unfortunately I went to sleep after the sixth inning.

Movies In Frames

2011-09-26T15:56:00.000-04:00

I get the RSS feed from a Tumblr called Movies In Frames. The premise of the Tumblr is simple: make four screencaps from a movie and post them. Some of the results are really inspired. The one below, from The Matrix: Revolutions was fantastic in my opinion.

2011-09-26T14:56:00.002-04:00

Check out Spiderman in the stands.

Sports Roundup

2011-09-26T14:54:00.001-04:00

1. The Bills Are For Real (Maybe)
I wrote last week about how the Bills wouldn't make the playoffs. They had lost 15 straight games against the Pats and 20 of the last 21. Yesterday they pulled off one of the best comeback wins of the past several years after falling behind 21-0 against what seemed like an unstoppable Patriots passing attack. Overlooked defensive stud George Wilson pulled in three interceptions after that point and the Bills won a wild one 34-31. It was one of the more satisfying games I've watched in a while.

So, now the Bills are 3-0, have the highest-scoring offense in the NFL, and are the most fun team to watch (who would have guessed that Detroit would be the second most-fun-team-to-watch?). What about their playoff chances?

I would say they probably still need to go 5-1 (that is win 2 of 3 against Cinci, Philadelphia (which should be Vickless), and the Giants) before their bye to have a shot. And on Sunday they definitely seemed capable. They just need to start playing defense in the first quarter.

Good job, Bills. The city of Buffalo deserves it. And whatever happens, no other team is going to warm my heart quite as much this season.

2. The Lions Are For Real
While I'm on this I should probably point out that the Raiders and Titans are also for real. This is shaping up to be a fun season.

But, no one is as electrifying right now as Calvin Johnson. He also has the best nickname in sports. Sorry Kobe a.k.a. The Black Mamba and Gilbert Arenas a.k.a. Agent Zero but Calvin is proving that Megatron should have been a hero's name. It's imposing and also very fitting for the best player in the Motor City.

3. The Rugby World Cup Is A Lot Of Fun (If Only It Weren't On At 3 AM)
Living in the Atlantic Time Zone, I actually have a leg up on most of you North Americans in that the prime time World Cup games actually begin at the somewhat human hour of 5:30 AM here. I've gotten up for a few games including the end of the Wallabies' 67-5 destruction of the US side. I'm looking forward to losing sleep in the elimination rounds.

4. Baseball's Exciting Again!
St. Louis and Tampa Bay are both a game back in a wild card race that looked to be over a month ago. The Braves and Red Sox have been choking in tandem through September in such outrageous fashion that it's been beautiful to watch. The Sox stopped the bleeding last night against the Yankees and will probably hold on to the berth, unless the Orioles can take 2 of the final 3 games of the season from them. The O's have had their number lately, so it could get interesting. This is definitely the most fun portion of the season for O's fans.

Much more interestingly, though, the Braves have to finish against the best team in baseball (the Phillies) while the Cards get to play the worst (the Astros). Should be fun.

That is, until the wild card teams get bounced in the first round and we slowly wind our way to a Phils/Yanks World Series next month.

This Month's Music Obsession--Emily

2011-09-21T12:55:00.000-04:00

tUnE-yArDs is killing me right now. I'll post a couple videos, but for me the visuals distract from the space created by the music itself. I've seen some fairly impressive performances in the loop pedal vein, but they always struck a bit gimmicky. Merrill Garbus, the band's frontwoman and the one making most of the sound, has used looping to enable her to grow full-blown sound in isolation, and as I listen to the new album, WHOKILL, I feel that. It shows through even more in her original release as tUnE-yArDs, Birdbrains, which was recorded entirely on a small sony handheld voice recorder.

Below are an official video and a live performance at the KEXP studio, both from the new album, WHOKILL.

Sports Roundup

2011-09-21T09:13:00.000-04:00

1. The Bills Don't Have A Chance of Making The Playoffs
It's trendy in the first few weeks of the season to suggest that this might be the year the Bills go back to the playoffs. But this feels like 2008 to me, a year where the Bills started 4-0 and finished 7-9. It's important to remember that they were better than their record last year despite going 4-12 and starting the season 0-8. They were only blown out five times: twice by the Jets, once by the Patriots, once by the Packers, and once by the Vikings. They hung tight in all of their other games and lost three of them in overtime.

So, this season they've scored 79 points in starting 2-0, including an impressive comeback win against a pretty decent Raiders team last weekend. The bad news is that they aren't very good on defense. They lost one of the better linebackers in the league, Paul Posluszny, to free agency. And things aren't going to get any easier.

Last year the Bills played their non-conference games against the NFC North, possibly the toughest division in the NFC. This year they've got the NFC East to contest with, plus random games against the Chargers and Titans. So, they've got four games coming up against the Jets and Patriots, which I think they come out of 1-3 in the best case scenario. They've got a probable loss against Philadelphia and they always manage to squander a lead against Dallas (Who can forget Romo's five INT game in 2007? It's the game that confirmed me as a Bills fan.). Plus, they also probably go 1-1 against San Diego and Tennessee. So that puts them at 4-6.

I think they go 1-1 vs. Miami, lose to Washington and New York, and beat Cinci and Denver. That puts them at 7-9. Even if they over-achieve, it's going to take a lot to get the 10 wins they need to have a shot at a wild card spot.

Now, if only the Bills were in the AFC West or South... or the NFC West, which has a division record of 2-6 I think they'd have a good shot. The division record for the AFC East is an NFL-best 6-2.

That said, I'm really enjoying this season thus far and plan to watch as many Bills games as I can this season. The Oakland game is going to be a hard one to beat for my favorite of the year, though.

2. Is There Anyone Else As Fun To Watch YouTube Highlights of as Maradona and Barry Sanders?
I think it's fairly clear-cut that Maradona and Barry Sanders are the best to ever play their respective sports. They're also insanely enjoyable to watch highlight reels of. Try it out for yourself: Barry Sanders, Maradona. Michael Jordan is fun to watch, but you know who I really tuned in to see during the second Bulls three-peat? Dennis Rodman. Michael always had some great plays, but Dennis was more entertaining. But for sheer fluid joy I don't know if anyone else comes close to Barry and Diego.

3. I'm Really Enjoying The Orioles Spoiling Things
The Rays, Angels and Red Sox are all trying to make the playoffs. The Orioles were eliminated back in May, but they've taken 2 out of 3 games from each of those teams in their last three series. The Red Sox are in the midst of a collapse that has seen them go 5-15 in September. They've got a two game lead on Tampa Bay, but they'll probably still make the playoffs. That said, they've got to play four of their final seven games against the O's and I'd love to see Baltimore knock them out.

Found A Kindred Ewok Spirit

2011-09-20T09:28:00.000-04:00

If you paid any attention to the galaxy of Star Wars uber-fans out there in the web universe, you'd think the Ewok movies were a secret scourge released on mankind by the real-life Anakin Skywalker himself, George Lucas. In fact, the amount of crying over Darth Vader saying "Noooo!" on the Return of the Jedi Blu Ray has been so tinged with religious outrage you would think Lucas is the Joseph Smith of the 00's.

I don't know that Lucas has ever taken himself as seriously as the fans of his made-up worlds do. And that's a good thing.

I ran across this post at The Reel Bits making the case for the merit of the Ewok films. Don't listen to anyone who would try to convince you that the prequel trilogy is better.

Ewoks: The Battle For Endor (Jim Wheat, Ken Wheat, 1984) - 78

2011-09-19T22:42:00.006-04:00

I'm not sure what else you could ask of a made-for-TV movie than what this delivers. The carry-over of props and costumes from Star Wars probably aided in making such a special-effects and costume heavy film work on a Movie of the Week budget.

There's also a lot of peril here. And the amount of crossfire that the unbelievably cute, curly-headed Cindel (Aubree Miller) runs through is ridiculous and wonderful. There's a childlike air to the whole thing. Instead of showing Cindel crying when she loses a family member she just says that the death "makes her sad" and snuggles up to Wicket (Warwick Davis). The film also includes some great, skeletal bad guys, a witch with a shape-shifting ring, an unseen but deadly moat monster, catapults, and wall-to-wall blaster action.

Scarred for Life: Nathan Sizemore

2011-09-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

I should probably take a minute here to explain what Scarred For Life is before I start delving in to my entry. Scarred For Life was birthed out of a conversation I had with John Hill last week about movies that we either hadn't seen since we were kids but wanted to see again or things that we hadn't seen but that had made a lasting impression on us during our childhoods. I imagine this could continue as we watch some of the films we've listed and record our adult reactions.

I'm actually watching Ewoks: The Battle For Endor (1985) as I'm writing this. I saw The Ewok Adventure (1984) (or Caravan of Courage as I remembered it) at least 20 years ago and I'm finally getting around to the sequel. I'm sort of surprised thus far at how decent it is for a TV movie. I think it's definitely aided by some decent puppetry and stop animation. There's a lot of mention of death in this for a kids' movies.

Look Who's Talking (Amy Heckerling, 1989)
I've never seen this. But there was a movie rental place across from the building where I went to school and I saw the poster for this in its windowwhen I was playing at recess for all of second and third grade.

The Adventures of the Wilderness Family (Stewart Raffill, 1975)
I remember requesting this several times either at our local video store or at the library. I must have seen the final scene with Three Toes attacking the house over and over, because it's indelibly stamped on my brain.

Jetsons: The Movie (Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, 1990)
I saw this enough times to remember it pretty clearly and to know that it's probably not very good. We loved watching it, though. In particular for the musical sequence by Apollo Blue.

Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (Richard Williams, 1977)
I remember seeing a portion of this. It's much more bizarre and dark than you'd anticipate. It's also one of the two feature films animation genius Richard Williams has directed.

Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks With A Circus (Charles Barton, 1960)
I've got a really vague memory of this, but running away and joining the circus is another childhood dream. Kevin Corcoran was one of my heroes as a kid, mostly because he was in so many good live-action Disney films.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963)
This was the standard birthday party movie for several years between the 80's and 90's. I'm not sure why. Maybe because it was long and meant the party would have to last a while. We liked recounting the entire plot to each other at recess.

The Black Stallion (Carol Ballard, 1979)
I particulary remember the scenes of Alec riding on the beach. I think that was a kid's dream, to have your own island and your own Arabian stallion.

The Shaggy Dog (Charles Barton, 1959)
We watched this and The Shaggy D.A. and the idea of turning into a dog was just as terrible as having a personal stallion was nice. I think the transformation scenes in this really got to me when I was younger.

The Black List

2011-09-19T08:53:00.001-04:00

I was listening to the /Filmcast yesterday while driving to an event and they were talking about the Sundance premiere (it was an old podcast) of Margin Call, which had scored highly on The Black List, a list of most-liked unproduced screenplays that is compiled each year based on the suggestions of Hollywood executives. The moderator, David Chen, mentioned that the film was absolutely terrible.

And it occurred to me that while I hear lots of mention of The Black List, like it's a prestigious thing, I don't think I've ever seen a high-ranking Black List screenplay that turned into a good film. The Beaver was a script that scored very high on The Black List. If you've seen it you know that there's no way it was an amazing script that was soured by the Hollywood assembly line. And if you scan over the min-synopsese on last year's list (which I linked to above) most of them sound awful. Hitmen and assassins abound.

So, all I'm saying is, maybe a screenplay's inclusion on The Black List should raise some red flags rather than inspire excitement.

Malick and Bale

2011-09-19T08:40:00.000-04:00

Terrence Malick and Christian Bale were shooting something at Austin City Limits yesterday.

Tilda

2011-09-17T09:38:00.000-04:00

This is the front runner for my favorite movie poster of the year.

I've Got To See Adventures In Babysitting Now

2011-09-17T09:35:00.001-04:00

After John's Scarred For Life post I'm convinced I've got to see Adventures In Babysitting. The VHS cover art alone sold me, but then I watched the trailer. It's also directed by Christ Columbus, who you all might know as the auteur behind Home Alone and Home Alone 2 as well as the writer of The Goonies and Gremlins.

Check out the trailer:

Cluny Brown (Ernst Lubitsch, 1946) - 89

2011-09-17T09:28:00.000-04:00

I guess it's already clear we're big fans of Preston Sturges, but Ernst Lubitsch is starting to wrestle his way to an equal share of our hearts. We watched Cluny Brown last night, or rather, the second half of Cluny Brown, since the fatigue of parenthood rarely gifts us with the vigor for viewing an entire movie in one evening. It's the last film that Lubitsch completed (he died eight days into shooting That Lady In Ermine a few years later) and it's generally not afforded the same status as some of his earlier films, so I was mildly surprised to find that it's on par with the best of his work.

Cluny Brown was scripted by Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt but I couldn't help but imagine that Lubtisch played some role in the final version of the script. There are some glittering scenes of dialogue that are so clearly his that I can't help but imagine him rewriting scenes at night and handing out new pages of script in the morning. Charles Boyer is particularly enjoyable as a Czech refuge who might be a sort of humanist con man. He is suave and non-conformist and the perfect foil for what ends up being a good-natured skewering of British stuffiness and traditionalism.

Jennifer Jones plays the girl in the film's title and achieves something really fantastic. It's practically Monroeian (that has to be the first time I've read or thought of this term), the way she disappears into the role of a girl adrift in the world and with a keen love of plumping.

Plumbing and pipes also give Lubitsch plenty of material for endless double entendres along the lines of "I guess he doesn't want me handling his plumbing..."

While reading up on Cluny Brown on IMDB, I stumbled across a blog post by Justine Brown called "Five Underseen Classic Hollywood Comedies" which I found an enjoyable read. She names Cluny Brown and Ball of Fire (one of my favorite films of all time), so I'm definitely inclined to check out the other three titles.

Time Out London: 100 Greatest Comedy Films

2011-09-15T23:04:00.001-04:00

Time Out London just came out with a list of the 100 greatest comedy films ever made according to a group of voters they rounded up. Here's what they came up with:

100. Sister Act (1992)
99. Carry on Screaming (1966)
98. Brazil (1985)
97. Swingers (1996)
96. BASEketball (1998)
95. The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
94. Midnight Run (1988)
93. Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
92. Nuts in May (1976)
91. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
90. Mean Girls (2004)
89. The Great Dictator (1940)
88. Arthur (1981)
87. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
86. Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
85. Caddyshack (1980)
84. Galaxy Quest (1999)
83. Sullivan’s Travels (1941)
82. The Pink Panther (1963)
81. Raising Arizona (1987)
80. Clockwise (1986)
79. Bridesmaids (2011)
78. Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
77. Stir Crazy (1980)
76. Old School (2003)
75. Bananas (1971)
74. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
73. The Party (1968)
72. Bedazzled (1967)
71. Broadway Danny Rose (1984)
70. The General (1926)
69. Clerks (1994)
68. The King of Comedy (1982)
67. His Girl Friday (1940)
66. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978)
65. Elf (2003)
64. Coming to America (1988)
63. Kingpin (1966)
62. Hot Fuzz (2007)
61. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
60. Sleeper (1973)
59. Happy Gilmore (1996)
58. Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983)
57. The Hangover (2009)
56. A Night at the Opera (1935)
55. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)
54. The Blues Brothers (1980)
53. Way Out West (1937)
52. Young Frankenstein (1974)
51. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)
50. When Harry Met Sally (1989)
49. Love and Death (1975)
48. Play It Again Sam (1972)
47. The Apartment (1960)
46. Harold and Maude (1971)
45. Office Space (1999)
44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)
43. Tootsie (1982)
42. The Ladykillers (1955)
41. The Odd Couple (1968)
40. ¡Three Amigos! (1986)
39. Waiting for Guffman (1997)
38. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
37. Top Secret! (1984)
36. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
35. Zoolander (2001)
34. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)
33. In the Loop (2009)
32. The Man with Two Brains (1983)
31. The Princess Bride (1987)
30. The Producers (1968)
29. Rushmore (1998)
28. Wayne’s World (1992)
27. There’s Something About Mary (1998)
26. Best in Show (2000)
25. The Castle (1997)
24. Four Lions (2010)
23. Ghostbusters (1984)
22. Dumb and Dumber (1994)
21. Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)
20. Trading Places (1983)
19. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
18. The Naked Gun (1988)
17. Duck Soup (1933)
16. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
15. Blazing Saddles (1974)
14. Dr Strangelove (1964)
13. The Big Lebowski (1998)
12. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006)
11. Team America: World Police (2004)
10. The Jerk (1979)
9. Some Like it Hot (1959)
8. Groundhog Day (1993)
7. Withnail & I (1987)
6. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
5. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
4. Annie Hall (1977)
3. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979)
2. Airplane! (1980)
1. This Is Spinal Tap (1984)

- I've seen 69 of the films.

- Of course I'm going to object to things like The Hangover placing at number 57. The greater problem that I have, though, is overrated films like Four Lions and In The Loop placing 24th and 33rd respectively. Clearly this is a British poll. Monty Python placed two films in the top 5.

- The big reason for lists like this, though, is to inspire you to go out and see some things. And I'm definitely convinced I need to finally see Life of Brian, Withnail & I, Blazing Saddles, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, National Lampoon's Vacation, and BASEketball.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (Peter Hewitt, 1991) - 84

2011-09-15T22:47:00.001-04:00

When you're making a sequel you've almost always got to go bigger. You can either do this succesfully (Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day), to a mixed response (Babe: Pig In The City, Gremlins 2: The New Batch) or poorly (do I need to give an example?).

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey does it right. Bill and Ted don't pick up any more characters from the past and bring them to the future. They do end up in heaven, hell, and a hardware store to buy parts so that an alien named Station can create good robot duplicates of themselves to battle evil.

I hesitate to say more, because the multitude of ideas that Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon keep frantically pulling out of a number of hats are a lot of fun to experience being revealed for the first time. They obviously love the characters they've created - not just Bill and Ted, but all of the supporting players as well, many of whom return from the first film. This is clearly the story of a group of people getting to do what they love and having a great time creating together.

Nominee For Best Performance of the Decade #1

2011-09-14T19:39:00.001-04:00

I've posted this several times before, surely. But I got to thinking about great performances and this always jumps out of my head first. There's actually pretty decent version of it up (something that can't be said for Radiohead's Grammy performance of "15 Step"), but I can't embed it.

So here it is:

The White Stripes play "Seven Nation Army", cover Son House, and go white hot crazy at the 46th Grammys.

I also like how the celebrity close-up we get afterwards is Quentin Tarantino.

Nominee for Best Song of the Decade #2

2011-09-14T16:00:00.003-04:00

I realize how silly the heading for these is. I'm not even sure what decade I'm referring to. 2000-2011 is 12 years. And that's roughly the period I've had in my head. Well, there's no going back now...

Incidentally this is also one of my favorite music videos of the past decade. Maybe you have to be an editor to realize how good it is. It would take me a lot of work to reproduce. And there are so many interesting image juxtapositions that emerge from what is essentially three or four set-ups all taken from a similar angle.

But, c'mon Ida Maria, if you've got a full HD version of this thing out there I'd be happy to upload it for you. 360p videos are so 2002.

Ida Maria - "Oh My God"

We Bought A Crowe (Or Do We?)

2011-09-14T15:41:00.002-04:00

The trailer for We Bought A Zoo dropped today. I knew the trailer would look conventionally bad, but there's really nothing to glean from this aside from the fact that Matt Damon and Elle Fanning are in it.

Scarred For Life: John Hill

2011-09-13T23:26:00.007-04:00

Nathan and I have been having a conversation about movies that left impressions on us as children. Below is a list of the first films that came to mind for me. Strangely, it seems like most of my movie memories have to do with fear or embarrassment...
Some of the films I've seen, some I haven't. I've included a brief explanation about each movie.

Little Monsters (1989)
Never seen this one but the blue faced monster from the poster captured my imagination. I remember making up my own plot based on the poster and events from the movie that my friends told me about.

The Teddy Ruxpin Movie (1987)
Used to rent this from my local library all the time. I was a big Teddy Ruxpin fan. My memories of the film have really faded though.

The Last Star Fighter (1984)
My dad recommended this to me. I think I would have enjoyed it but my friends watched it with me and made fun of it pretty mercilessly.

Adventures In Babysitting (1987)
Never seen this one either. I remember the VHS cover was a group of people scaling a building.
One of my friend’s parents hailed it as the funniest movie they’d ever seen. I suppose its possible.

Quigley Down Under (1990)
My mom brought this home one day. Usually my mom chose awful animal movies: Old Yeller, Black Beauty, Free Willy etc. but one day she chose Quigley Down Under. I remember thinking it was awesome. other than that, I really only remember one scene that involves two men throwing spears at each other. Still, I’d like to watch it again.

License To Drive (1988)
My parents dragged me along to a church group meeting at some family’s house. They had a son who was about four years older than me. I watched him play an Indiana Jones game on his Atari. I watched him play with his CB radio. Then we watched A License To Drive.
I was deeply disturbed by it. I know now that it’s a teen comedy but at the time I didn’t see anything funny about keeping an unconscious (possibly dead?) girl in the trunk of a convertible.

Return to Oz (1985)
I remember creatures that rollerskated on all fours. Terrifying.

The Point System Part 2

2011-09-13T09:22:00.000-04:00

Isaac wrote in response to my blog post clarifying my point system. And I think he has a good point:

I believe that is sufficient.

I guess I was hoping it was more scientific... :)

The x/100 scale does lead one to think that a 65 is pretty much a bad movie, but then a 3 of 5 stars would lead me to think it's not too bad...

Interesting how these things work.

I probably didn't dig into my thinking regarding the point scale as deeply as I could have. I do have a few clear thresholds in my mind when scoring a movie:

Anything under 50 is generally something I had trouble watching in real time all the way through, generally (unless it was in the theater) a sub-50 score means I fast-forwarded some portion of the film.
An 80 or above is a film that I would gladly watch numerous times. 80-82 is perhaps my most common score.

And as I look at these two things, it doesn't really make sense that a movie I'd fast-forward through and a movie I love are only separated by 30 points. The main culprit here is probably my school grading system I was raised in - anything under 50 is a failing grade, and above 80 is pretty good.

So, all that to say that 65 is actually a decent score from me as well. I've given 65's to Fast Five, Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, Morvern Callar, Failure To Launch, Quantum of Solace and Phone Booth. Each of those films has something to recommend it: the car theft from a moving train in Fast Five, Sydney Poitier's performance in Dinnner, Morvern Callar's cinematography and atypical plot structure, one of Zooey Deschanel's best characters, a killer opening credit sequence, and a very original story idea (let's keep a guy in a phone booth for a whole movie).

So, I guess what I'm saying is that I'm just like the five star guys. I've just got a slightly more expansive point system.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Stephen Herek, 1989) - 79

2011-09-12T22:47:00.002-04:00

We stayed in 1989 tonight and curled up with Keanu. There are few actors I find as comforting. Arnold Schwarzenegger comes to mind. Jason Schwartzman. Jimmy Stewart.

Sarah hadn't seen it before. It's high concept, even for a post-Back To The Future family-friendly movie about time travel, and has a lot of original and fun ideas. I mean, where did the idea of having Billy the Kid and Socrates try to pick up chicks together at the mall come from?

It reminds me of The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension, a movie that spills over with ideas, is really easy to love, and isn't alway executed perfectly, but is easy to come back to repeatedly for a casual viewing that gives you a strong shot of nostalgia.

- Wyld Stallyns is also one of my favorite band names ever. (See also: Hawkwind, Big Star, Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, The Wrens, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Godspeed You Black Emperor!)

Doubts About Drive

2011-09-12T22:18:00.000-04:00

Drive is the best reviewed movie of the year. It's got a bad title. There have been 24 other movies named Drive released since 1991 according to IMDB. But it's got 80's fetishism on its side: neon and leather and a hot pink title and what I assume is a killer soundtrack by my favorite movie composer (Cliff Martinez) this side of Jonny Greenwood (who I just realized is the composer for We Need To Talk About Kevin). It's also got an 86 on Metacritic. Or at least it did, until David Edelstein of New York Magazine came along and wrote this:

September brings the higher trash like Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, which is every bit as dumb as August’s Conan the Barbarian but awash in neon-lit nightscapes and existential dread, with killings so graphic that you can’t entirely believe what you’re gagging at.

I've been planning to go see Drive soon after it hits wide release next week. But this gave me pause, even though I don't always agree with Edelstein. It occurs to me that I haven't been crazy about the things I've seen previously from Nicolas Winding Refn, or Carey Mulligan, or Ryan Gosling. And that the masses aren't always the best judge of quality.

2011-09-12T13:14:00.000-04:00

@nathandsizemore: If the lockout has taught us one thing, it's to appreciate FIBA Americas and Eurobasket, which plays its knockout stage this week.

Nominee for Best Song of the Decade #1

2011-09-11T23:43:00.000-04:00

I just heard the first part of this on TV and had to listen to it. It hadn't ever really hit me how awesome the spoken word part is toward the end or the conclusion. I like the wind chimes. The video seems to be going for a Paul and Linda McCartney vibe.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros - "Home"

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (Joe Johnston, 1989) - 81

2011-09-11T23:18:00.000-04:00

Sarah and I watched this tonight and ended up enjoying it more than we expected to given that our main reason for watching it was vague childhood memory. In Sarah's case she discovered part way through that she probably hadn't even seen the whole thing as a kid.

It's a good combo of a likable, well-written group of kids, something that was in endless supply it seems during the 80's (see: The Goonies, The Monster Squad, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mad Max Beyond Thuderdome, Poltergeist, Overboard) and over time has almost entirely disappeared, and a fantastic miniature world. I really like family films where the main conflict between your parents is whether your dad is sneaking cigarettes or not.

We were marveling at how similar Matt Frewer's voice and mannerisms are to Jim Carrey. It also has a great animated opening credits sequence that I had forgotten entirely.

Sports Roundup

2011-09-11T22:50:00.000-04:00

- The Steelers lost today in dramatic fashion to their biggest rivals. It was perhaps fitting that they put together such a dismal showing on the tenth anniversary of one of the worst days most of us remember.

- I drowned my sorrows by watching the FIBA Americas championship in which Argentina defeated Brazil 80-75. I've developed a love for both Argentine soccer and basketball. The cozy Polideportivo Islas Malvinas in Mar del Plata, which seats about 8,000, was rocking. Most of the fans in attendance were jumping up and down, whistling, and singing loudly throughout. Next year's Olympics is probably going to be the final tournament for the team that shocked the world to win the gold in 2004.

- While the Steelers were shocked by the bludgeoning they received, Buffalo won in shocking fashion in Kansas City, 41-7. Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson are both going to have good seasons, but I imagine there's plenty of heartbreak in store for Buffalonians. They know it, too. And they're enjoying this victory before it evaporates.

- Cam Newton also became the first rookie to ever throw for 400 yards in his first game. I don't think anyone expected that. Or for Chicago, Washington, Cincinnati, and Jacksonville to win.

The Point System

2011-09-11T22:33:00.001-04:00

I got this email from Isaac, a friend of mine, yesterday:

Hello there, Been enjoying your movie reviews, and was wondering about your point system. Couldn't find any entries on it, so I thought I'd ask.

The short answer is that I stole it from Mike D'Angelo back in 2006. It's basically the same system used by Metacritic and Pitchfork as well.

There aren't any point values attributed to certain aspects of the film. I just try to estimate my response to it on a 100 point scale. It's largely unscientific. Thus far I've rated about 1,500 films and a few hundred books. I really need to use it for music as well.

Conan The Barbarian (John Milius, 1982) - 84

2011-09-09T13:56:00.000-04:00

I've somehow ended up watching both of the originals to the recent 80's remakes. Last Action Hero (1993) (which I watched because of Shane Black's involvement in The Monster Squad) put me in the mood for Conan the Barbarian and somehow that led on to Fright Night (1985).

Conan the Barbarian was a pleasant surprise. I'd seen the first three minutes or so previously and nothing from that selection made an impression on me. I wasn't prepared for Arnold biting vultures to death while crucified and punching horses in the face. Conan maintains a decent mayhem level throughout. James Earl Jones plays a wizard/cult leader named Thulsa Doom who is unique to most movie villains I can think of and easy to dislike because of his stoic amoralism. Thulsa almost rivals Darth Vader as an embodiment of evil.

The thing that makes Conan most enjoyable for me is that the character of Conan is something of a meathead who just keeps plowing along through life, shrugging off mistakes and punching and slashing his way out of tight spots. There isn't much at all in the way of exposition even though there's sporadic voice over narration by a wizard/con man we don't meet until about half way through the film. Conan just goes from one thing to the next with two relatively capable accomplices named Valeria (Sandahl Bergman) and Subotai (Gerry Lopez) helping him out of the odd crucifixion.

I found Conan to be a lovable and mildly tragic figure. He's constantly trying to figure out his system of beliefs regarding the earth-god, Krom, that he was raised to believe in. That element alone makes for some very interesting subtext. In the world of Conan, religious movements trump political ones.

Conan The Barbarian (John Milius, 1982) - 84

All of these ideas are downplayed in Conan The Destroyer (1984). John Milius didn't return to direct. And it's a much more straightforward adventure story with more of a focus on comedy and weaker special effects. That said, I still find the stunt casting of Wilt Chamberlain and Grace Jones to be enjoyable. Wilt even bites Arnold's ear a la Tyson-Holyfield during a fight they have.

I try hard with sequels to look at them as if they are stand-alone films and measure my feelings about them without thinking of what has preceded them. I find this useful for things like On Stranger Tides, which I probably would be very impressed by had it come out of nowhere this year with its depth of production design and its engaging characters and ideas. Conan The Destroyer is a decent adventure film and one I imagine I'll visit again, but, like most everyone has agreed, it doesn't get close to matching the first film.

Conan The Destroyer (Richard Fleischer, 1984) - 71

The Monster Squad is better than The Goonies!

2011-09-07T20:45:00.000-04:00

I had the good fortune to watch The Monster Squad (1987) a few nights ago. It's just about everything you'd want from a gang of kids adventure movie from the 80's: a great gang of kids (including a cool older kid, some nerds, a fat kid (conveniently nicknamed "Fat Kid"), and one of the nerds' sisters), nicknames (aside from the aforementioned "Fat Kid" there's also a key character who is referred to as "Scary German Guy" throughout the entire movie, monsters, good dialogue (Shane Black pulls off some great one-liners, including the immortal "Wolfman's got nards!"), Tom Noonan as a nice Frankenstein's monster, a dog with near-human intelligence, and lots of action.

I fell for it pretty hard. I've barely ventured out of the movies of the mid-80's since.

The Monster Squad (Fred Dekker, 1987) - 90

Relatively New Things That Are Bad

2011-09-07T14:56:00.001-04:00

I've watched or semi-watched (i.e. watched the first 15 minutes of, skimmed through the remainder) several bad 2011 movies recently. I prefer to just talk about movies that I love when I have the time to write a blog post, but I felt a certain public responsibility to spare anyone willing to heed my advice the dull pain of wasting an evening on a movie of poor quality. I also know that some people find it impossible to stop a movie mid-stream or to skip through it, so with those people in particular at the very forefront of my mind, I proceed.

Essential Killing (Jerzy Skolimowski, 2010) - 17
I don't know that anyone but me is going to take the time to watch this film, but I've got a certain unexplained weakness for Vincent Gallo and couldn't pass up on a chance to see him star as an Al-Qaeda/Taliban member on the run in Afghanistan and an unnamed, snowy country. It dawned on me during the first third of this film that Gallo has probably not been involved in anything worth watching aside from Buffalo '66, which I'm a huge fan of. In this film he kills a number of bumbling and cartoonish American soldiers and eventually vomits blood while riding a horse and dies suddenly at the 80 minute mark. At which point the movie is over.

Attack The Block (Joe Cornish, 2011) - 41
I was really looking forward to this one. It's been talked up quite a bit on Aint It Cool News and other more nerdy film sites and it's been well-reviewed pretty much everywhere else. The basic premise is that aliens descend on the London version of the 'hood or the ghetto and interact with a gang of black teenagers (and in a reversal of trend, a token white gang member). That pitch sounds wonderful. The only problem is that the character development and dialogue is poor and the aliens are really fake looking. They are black "furry" areas with teeth and look like black, CG puppets.

Jane Eyre (Cary Fukunaga, 2011) - 40
On our trip to Pennsylvania this summer I happened to sit down with a copy of Jane Eyre for the first time and devoured it in a number of days. It's a fantastic novel and I'm not sure why I haven't written about it here yet. I was curious to see it adapted with the most interesting Michael Fassbender taking its most interesting role. Unfortunately this film seems to have utilized none of the dialogue from the book and it flips back and forward through its chronology. Jane Eyre is a hard book to adapt. It takes a sharp left turn about two-thirds of the way in. But this is an exceptionally uninspired adaptation and Mia Wasikowska and Fassbender seem to have no chemistry.

Super (James Gunn, 2011) - 18
I'll admit, I didn't last long. I'm not a big fan of Gunn's previous work (Slither) or of the normal-guy-puts-on-tights genre. OK, so there are a few of them I like. Defendor and Mystery Men spring quickly to mind. Super seems to be the end of the line for such films. It's a retread of the basic premise of previous films in the genre (loser is empowered by tights/lame weapon) and is also fairly lazy and takes some possible potshots at "conservative Christians". I'm not sure. Maybe just conservative Christians who beat up drug dealers with monkey wrenches. Ellen Page attempts to inject some "comedy" as a side kick who has no moral compass. And Kevin Bacon plays a bland bad guy.

Anticipation

2011-09-07T13:42:00.001-04:00

As the fall rolls up many of the important, interesting films from this year are being seen and commented on. Venice and Telluride are wrapping up and Toronto is just around the corner. My MAMOTYs have changed from the beginning of the year. I've seen The Tree of Life and enjoyed it as I expected. It's currently the top-rated film I've seen this year. Other films have been disappointing, Cars 2 in particular comes to mind.

My anticipation of some things, like War Horse, The Immortals, Cowboys & Aliens, and Larry Crowne has dropped significantly, while my anticipation of things like Young Adult, Drive, and We Need To Talk About Kevin has risen steadily.

So, as we head into the movie playoffs, here's what I'm most looking forward to:

1. The Descendants (Alexander Payne)
The buzz out of Telluride on this was good. I'm just worried that it's more conventional than Payne's other films.

2. Drive (Nicholas Winding Refn)
Everyone seems to love this film. If it isn't at least pretty good I'll be surprised.

3. We Need To Talk About Kevin (Lynn Ramsay)
The response to this at Cannes was mixed, but I've liked everything I've seen from it. You know what's really selling me? The used of splashes of red in almost every scene.

4. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher)
I wish David Fincher had made something else, but he's one of the better director's making a film this year, so I can't help but expect this will be good.

5. Young Adult (Jason Reitman)
Bill Simmons pricked up my ears with some early praise of this, suggesting we'd reevaluate Charlize Theron's career based on it. What little word there has been has suggested it's quite good.

6. We Bought A Zoo (Cameron Crowe)
I can't think of anything I love by Cameron Crowe aside from Almost Famous, but he hasn't made anything yet that wasn't distinctively his own.

7. The Adventures of Tin Tin (Steven Spielberg)
I'm on the mo-cap fence, but I anticipate this will be good. I just hope it isn't too safe. Edgar Wright's involvement in its script gives me hope.

8. Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows (Guy Ritchie)
Does this belong this high on this list? No! But I can't help but anticipate it heavily based on its trailer. It looks like more fun than anything else being released in the remainder of the year. And no one is even cocking an eyebrow in its direction.

9. The Future (Miranda July)
The response to this has been violently split, but I'll take a violent reaction over a mild one. Plus, I trust Miranda July's sensibility.

10. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (Brad Bird)
This has stayed at about the same level for me anticipation-wise. I trust Brad Bird to make it good. And the M:I franchise has always gotten good directors: De Palma, Woo, and J.J. Abrams.

11. Immortals (Tarsem)
I might be alone in thinking The Fall is one of the best films of the current century, but I'm definitely alone in thinking Immortals will be something more than a 300 knock-off. It's got some good-looking stuff, but I'm still on the fence. It's never good when characters make speeches about "freedom" and "honor" before a battle. At least Tarsem's best bud Eiko Ishioka is along for the ride, so we know the costumes will look great.

12. Moneyball (Bennett Miller)
Did I mention that Aaron Sorkin rewrote this script? And it's got Brad Pitt in it?

13. War Horse (Steven Spielberg)
I'm not sure what to make of this thing. I don't know that anyone else does either. We're going to have two Spielberg films released in one week. It all is sort of weird. And possibly points to the fact that this isn't going to light the world on fire.

The rest I'll just list without commenting on them at length individually. I've heard good things about Jeff Nichols' sophomore film Take Shelter. I also like Michael Shannon. Nichols seems like the successor of the original David Gordon Green. I don't know what to expect from Contagion (straightforward pandemic film with elements of satire?) or from Lars Von Trier's Melancholia (depressing interstellar wedding weirdness?). Also, I think Paul W.S. Anderson's Three Musketeers looks like it might be fun, but it probably won't be.

14. This Must Be The Place
15. Hugo

16. Take Shelter

17. A Dangerous Method

18. Midnight In Paris

19. Captain America: The First Avenger

20. Contagion

21. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

22. Rampart

23. Shame

24. Restless

25. Martha Marcy May Marlene

26. Melancholia

27. Happy Feet 2

28. Tabloid

29. Larry Crowne

30. Win Win

31. Bridesmaids

32. The Three Musketeers

33. Higher Ground

34. The Ides of March

35. Albert Nobbs

This is the best poster of Jason Reitman's career.

2011-09-06T11:49:00.000-04:00

Now let's just hope it's his best movie.

This Will Be The Best Album of 2011

2011-09-06T08:33:00.001-04:00

Sorry Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and The Weeknd when the dust clears I'm betting on M83 for album of the year. "Midnight City" is already my favorite song of the annum and just look at that cover!

2011 is looking like the year of 80's fetishism: Super 8, remakes of Fright Night and Conan the Barbarian, and now this. And if it isn't already clear, I'm all for reveling in the element of 80's pop culture that M83's album artwork, music, and Super 8's kids represent.

August Viewing Log

2011-09-05T22:15:00.000-04:00

Things I Learned This Month

1. Studio Ghibli Has Two Amazing Directors
I was somewhat indifferent to Isao Takahata's work prior to this month and while it doesn't operate on the level of genius or playfulness as Miyazaki's, it's still very strong. He's probably the second-best living director of animation out there (Or at least top 5. Along with with Brad Bird, Sylvain Chomet, and John Lasseter. Satoshi Kon would have been on that list if he was still here.)

2. On Stranger Tides Holds Up After Another Viewing
I watched On Stranger Tides projected on the living room wall with my extended family who were all seeing it for the first time. It held up. It's a worthy entry in the Pirates quadrilogy. Hopefully they do more with mermaids in the future, like do a film with a long underwater sequence. Maybe they'd have to go find a pirate who was living down with the mermaids.

3. There's Really Nothing Like Yellow Submarine
George Dunning, a Canadian, only has one feature film in his filmography. And no one else has accomplished anything similar. It beat my expectations of visual experimentation.

4. Robert Zemeckis' First Film Is My Favorite
I like Cast Away, Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Death Becomes Her, and Used Cars, but I Wanna Hold Your Hand is potentially my favorite Zemeckis film. It's super zany and lots and lots of fun.

5. Marilyn Monroe Is One of My Favorite Actresses
She's in that special category of actors whose films I will watch purely because they're in it. I don't think I've seen a bad Monroe movie yet. Bus Stop is probably my favorite. The Seven Year Itch is also a lot of fun. The famous subway grate scene is surprisingly almost a non-event.

What I Watched:

1-Aug-2011	Your Highness	David Gordon Green	2011	27
2-Aug-2011	Only Yesterday	Isao Takahata	1991	90
3-Aug-2011	Willow	Ron Howard	1988	81
3-Aug-2011	Mars Needs Moms	Simon Wells	2011	46
4-Aug-2011	Yellow Submarine	George Dunning	1968	81
5-Aug-2011	Pom Poko	Isao Takahata	1994	80
5-Aug-2011	THX 1138	George Lucas	1971	78
8-Aug-2011	Bad Teacher	Jake Kasdan	2011	62
10-Aug-2011	Super 8	J.J. Abrams	2011	80
12-Aug-2011	Arrietty the Borrower	Hiromasa Yonebayashi	2010	79
13-Aug-2011	The Beaver	Jodie Foster	2011	32
14-Aug-2011	The Seven Year Itch	Billy Wilder 	1955	82
14-Aug-2011	Meek's Cutoff	Kelly Reichardt	2011	64
16-Aug-2011	The Crow	Alex Proyas	1994	67
16-Aug-2011	The Frighteners	Peter Jackson	1996	51
17-Aug-2011	I Wanna Hold Your Hand 	Robert Zemeckis	1978	84
18-Aug-2011	The Ocean Waves	Tomomi Mochizuki	1993	74
19-Aug-2011	The Tree of Life	Terrence Malick	2011	87
20-Aug-2011	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	Rob Marshall	2011	80
21-Aug-2011	Fast Five	Justin Lin	2011	65
23-Aug-2011	Used Cars	Robert Zemeckis	1980	79
27-Aug-2011	Thor	Kenneth Branagh	2011	67
28-Aug-2011	Barry Lyndon	  Stanley Kubrick	1975	89
29-Aug-2011	Death Becomes Her	Robert Zemeckis	1992	83
29-Aug-2011	Hesher	Spencer Susser	2011	74
30-Aug-2011	Who Framed Roger Rabbit	  Robert Zemeckis	1988	51
31-Aug-2011	Essential Killing	Jerzy Skolimowski	2010	17

My Favorite Brad Pitt Performances

2011-09-01T21:45:00.000-04:00

1. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
This performance has grown on me. Brad Pitt doesn't play tortured very often, but he's a tragic and frightening character here. I love when he's sitting in the back yard of his house and says, "I name them enemies" and then cuts of the snakes' heads.

2. Burn After Reading (2008)
Brad doesn't often play dumb, but he does it really, really well. (see Thelma & Louise, True Romance)

3. The Tree of Life (2011)
One of the most complex characters Brad has taken on. You won't see any awards consideration for it this year, either, which is just the way it should be. If Brad Pitt is the best actor of his generation it's best that he doesn't get recognized.

4. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
This performance doesn't get much notice. It's larger than life, but very good. It's maybe the one instance of Brad Pitt playing a smart hick. Lt. Aldo Raine is a much more nuanced character than Brad gets credit for.

5. Snatch. (2000)

6. Se7en (1995)

7. Fight Club (1999)

8. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)

9. The Ocean's Trilogy (2001, 2004, 2007)

I realize that my ranking of Pitt performances might very well be the upside down version of most people's list. Would they really put Benjamin Button or Fight Club at the top? But I've spent a lot of time watching the guy and am a big fan and this is the order of the performances I enjoy the most. The Tree of Life is what got me thinking and I'm curious to see what other people think when they get a chance to see Brad in that. It's unique to anything he's done prior.

I've also missed several of his other films: Cool World, Johnny Suede, Kalifornia, Troy. Are they worth seeing based on Brad's involvement alone? I sort of doubt it. I'm sort of curious to see Troy, mostly because it seems like a large slice of the population of the world has seen it and because Brad has great hair in it.

I'm really excited about the performances down the road for Brad. He single-handedly elevates my interest in Moneyball and World War Z. And I can imagine he'll be fantastic working again with Andrew Dominik on Cogan's Trade. I'll even be listening for him as "Krill #2" in Happy Feet 2.

My Feel Good Hit of the Fall

2011-09-01T12:35:00.006-04:00

I've been really enjoying this new Junior Boys track, "Banana Ripple". I kind of lost touch with these guys after Begone Dull Care, an album I didn't care for at all. Which was a shame since Last Exit and So This Is Goodbye were 2 excellent albums and a big reason (along with The Knife's Silent Shout and M83) that my music preferences these days lean towards electronica rather than guitar based pop music. Here's hoping the rest of It's All True is just as good.

Nicole=Mathilda?

2011-08-30T12:20:00.001-04:00

Something about Natalie Portman's performance as Nicole in Hesher gave me a strong Leon (1994) vibe. I'm not sure what it was. She seemed younger. And maybe just more abandoned to her role than it seems like she's been in anything I've seen since her first big break. I'd like to imagine that Mathilda has grown up, moved to the West Coast, and developed into a loser who works at a supermarket and occasionally protects kids from bullies.

A Word of Hesher Warning

2011-08-30T08:19:00.002-04:00

Now I know people aren't inclined to run out to their closest nearly defunct "video" rental establishment or primarily-colored kiosk as soon as the words "competently made film" spill from my mouth, but I thought I'd give a word of warning about the content of Hesher. Just in case there are some moms looking for a good movie to watch at their ladies' night and they think Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks cute in a long wig.

Hesher contains numerous and nearly constant profanities, most of them coming from Hesher, but also from the hordes of people baffled by his actions. It also contains: pruning shears being partially used on a toe and completely used on the tip of a nose, an attempt at feeding someone a urinal cake, Hesher falling off of a utility pole, Hesher pulling a grill into a swimming pool, Hesher throwing a small, homemade bomb out a window, egregious violence against cars: the torching of a convertible, a fender bender, a fatal car accident of the pickup-truck-suddenly-appearing-to-the-side-via-CGI variety, some rebar being applied to the door, headlight, and mirror of a van, a car being crushed by a metal compactor, Hesher telling three lewd parables, one involving sexual activity in his van with four women, another involving sexual activity between Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, a re-enactment of the trash compactor scene from Star Wars in a swimming pool with added profanity, someone vomiting at a funeral, Hesher smoking a bong with a grandmother, two people being punched in the face, someone being kicked below the belt, a boy flipping over the handlebars of his bike and landing on gravel, lots and lots of smoking, some of it in slow motion, food being thrown off of a table onto a wall including the destruction of two plates, the flipping of a coffee table, Hesher jumping off of a burning diving board, Natalie Portman brandishing her fists, and a conversation in a supermarket concerning the grooming of another character's genital area.

I'm sure I've overlooked a number of things. This list is off the top of my head.

Hesher (Spencer Susser, 2011) - 74

2011-08-29T22:50:00.001-04:00

I dig the concept here. A metalhead mentor shows up for a dad and son who have lost their wife/mom. And Hesher's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) profane parables are largely inspired. It just can't quite avoid the generic drama beats that it wants to. I don't think I can forgive the slo-mo image of the three main characters rolling Grandma's coffin across town. Or the flashback to the car accident. They all learn a valuable lesson, too, in the midst of cursing wildly and smashing things. And Natalie Portman is in the movie for an unclear reason. And gives a rare interesting performance (By my reckoning her first since Wes Anderson's Hotel Chevalier. Maybe I'm being disingenuous to Black Swan, but I was less impressed by it on my second viewing.).

2011-08-29T15:04:00.002-04:00

Sam Bosma posted this wonderpiece of illustration on his blog today.

Brad Pitt - The Best Actor Of His Generation?

2011-08-28T21:45:00.001-04:00

Brad gets a bad rap for his overacting in Twelve Monkeys (1995), but he's had an incredible streak of vivid performances in the past four years. He never gets much credit for his range, but his roles in Ocean's Thirteen and The Assassination of Jesse James... (2007) are about as different as an Audi and a Model-T. I realize that the title of this post is preposterous. Of course Brad Pitt isn't the best actor of a generation that includes Tom Hanks, George Clooney (who he's acted opposite more than once), Daniel Day-Lewis, Javier Bardem, Will Ferrell, Russell Crowe, Tony Leung, and nearly countless other men between the ages of 40 and 55. But he's generally overlooked for acting awards. And he doesn't seem to court them or take them into account.

I do know that there are few prominent movie actors who have rolled off a string of roles as varied as Brad's in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Inglourious Basterds, and The Tree of Life. Even Daniel Day-Lewis and Tom Hanks have fluctuated recently between the forgettable and the indelible.

Brad Pitt and Wes Anderson have already worked together in a commercial, so it seems like it might just be a matter of time until they get together in a feature. I'm looking forward to it.

(The shot above is from Cogan's Trade, directed by Andrew Dominik, coming out next year.)

James Blake

2011-08-25T11:52:00.008-04:00

James Blake - 83
(2011; Atlas Records)

I find it interesting that this week James Blake and Justin Vernon (better known as Bon Iver) released a collaboration together since Vernon's music makes an easy comparison to James Blake's. It's the kind of music Bon Iver might have made had he spent his formative years listening to Aphex Twin and Brian Eno. Blake's command of mood and tone recalls my favorite album of 2009 by The xx. His de-emphasis on rhythm in his debut is where he parts ways with The xx. He's got the same falsetto that Justin Vernon employs though he very often distorts and modulates his voice electronically. It's a very weird hybrid of an album. It's definitely dubstep and electronic in places, r&b in some others, but in some places it also has the feel of a singer/songwriter album. Despite all the influences James mixes together, it's quite a confident and assured debut album. I'm excited to see what he does next.

James Blake - "Wilhelms Scream"

James Blake - "Limit to Your Love"

Cute Zombie

2011-08-23T10:24:00.000-04:00

I've had trouble uploading this to YouTube and not getting it banned, but this guy apparently had no trouble.

Super 8 (J.J. Abrams, 2011) - 80

2011-08-22T23:09:00.000-04:00

I just noticed I haven't written anything about Super 8 yet. I'm preparing to attempt to post a couple of scenes from it. Two scenes that are unmatched in memorability (or memorableness) (in my opinion) thus far in 2011, and which might not be.

I think the consensus about Super 8 is that everything with the kids in it, in particular Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning, is amazing and everything else (the dads, the alien, the military invasion) is surprisingly limp. The thing I've realized the past few days (I watched Super 8 a little under two weeks ago) is that I really want to watch it again despite its weak elements. The other character stuff is just way too good.

Elle Fanning's also got my Cutest Zombie Award sewn up.

The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) - 87

2011-08-20T15:54:00.000-04:00

I read a bunch of reviews prior to getting my chance to see The Tree of Life that said that it was either a masterpiece or that it started out great and lost steam over its runtime. Lawrence Toppman of the Charlotte Observer said it was "dramatically inert". And it is, or seems to be, for most of its first hour. In fact, I spent an hour despairing of any narrative form to congeal out of the planetary bodies and child abuse. The movie almost exclusively uses extreme wide angle lenses that swoop in on people. Most of it occurs in close close-ups. And because of that feels simpler than previous Malick films.

But it builds power over time as well a side car of random shots of Jessica Chastain in a glass coffin, an injured dinosaur, a giant man in a small room, a clown, and lots and lots of doorways. The power, I think, comes around the time when Jack (Hunter McCracken) feels like he is starting to slip into sin. He sneaks into a neighbor's house, steals a woman's slip, hides it under a board in the woods, washes it downriver - and at that point the earlier meanderings of the film lend to a richness that increases minute by minute.

In my opinion, the film ends as powerfully and audaciously and mysteriously as anything Malick has previously made.

The Weeknd

2011-08-20T14:10:00.011-04:00

House of Balloons/Thursday - 88/85
(2011; self-released)

I can't decide what I think about the Weeknd. I can't decide if he's celebrating the hedonistic lifestyle depicted in his two free mixtapes he's dropped this year or decrying it, can't decide if his tour through an underground world of debauchery and late nights of empty pleasure and mornings of regret are an invitation or an admonition, and I can't decide if his use of The Weeknd as a nom-de-plume is an honest attempt to avoid fame or a calculated contrivance to gain just that. What I have decided is despite all this, he's a staggeringly talented 21 year old whose shamed 95% of people making and selling music this year who expect us to pay money for it.

The Weeknd - "Thursday"

The Weeknd - "High for This"

Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichardt, 2011) - 64

2011-08-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

Kelly Reichardt likes telling elliptical stories: a girl on the road gives away her dog, two guys go hiking and camping for a few days, a group of pioneers gets lost and wanders across the desert. They find an indian. That's about it.

I think she enjoys telling anti-climactic stories a lot more than I like watching them.

Will Michelle Williams ever play a character who experiences a moment of joy again?

The Beaver (Jodie Foster, 2011) - 32

2011-08-15T20:22:00.001-04:00

How Kyle Killen's script ever got on the Black List (a list of the best unproduced screenplays making the rounds in Hollywood) is beyond me. It goes from a somewhat interesting concept to a place of sickeningly sweet semi-sincerity super fast and then stays there and hammers its mildly bizarre concept and melodrama into its audience much like one of its characters repeatedly bangs his head into his bedroom wall until he makes a hole through its outer wall (and, no, this element of the film isn't as interesting as I just made it sound.).

I sort of like Jodie Foster for sticking by her man, but I'm embarrassed for her now.

Young Adult Has Shot Up My Anticipation Index

2011-08-14T14:14:00.000-04:00

Between the above still and Bill Simmons giving it high praise my anticipation of Jason Reitman's latest has started to run fairly high.